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ULSTER  JOURNAL  OF  ARCHEOLOGY 
VOL.  X 


SIR  ARTHUR  CHICHESTER, 

LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 
(Died   1624.) 


ULSTER  JOURNAL 
OF  ARCHEOLOGY 


Seal  of  Hugh  O'Neill,  King  of  Ulster 


Volume  X 


BELFAST 
M'CAW,  STEVENSON  &  ORR,  LIMITED 

THE  LINENHALL  PRESS 
1904 


^ 


i^L 


-^ 


ULSTER  JOURNAL  OF 

ARCHAEOLOGY 

Volume  X JANUARY  1904 Number  I 

Edited  by  FRANCIS  JOSEPH  BIGGER,  m.r.i.a.,  Ardrie,  Belfast. 


JOYMOUNT,    CARRICKFERGUS,    THE   RESIDENCE   OF  SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER. 

Sir  Arthur  Chichester,  Lord  Deputy  of 

Ireland* 

With  some  Notes  on  the  Plantation  of  Ulster. 
By  Francis  Joseph  Bigger,  m.r.i.a. 


T 


HE  action  by  which  Chichester  originally  introduced  himself  to 
public  notice  was  one  that  did  not  at  first  commend  itself 
to  the  powers  that  be.  He  was  compelled  to  make  a  very 
hasty  retreat  from  his  native  place  in  Devonshire,  in  consequence  of  his 
having  been  criminally  concerned  in  a  highway  robbery.  With  the 
connivance  or  assistance  of  one  or  two  associates,  he  lay  in  wait  for 
and  robbed  a  "  Queen's  purveyor,"  as  a  tax-collector  was  then  called ; 
which  offence,  however,  was  of  very  grave,  indeed  even  terrible,  signi- 
ficance, and  more  especially  at  that  crisis,  when  Queen  Elizabeth  very 
much  required  all  the  money  that  could  be  hastily  collected  from  her 
subjects  to  assist  in  carrying  on  her  numerous  military  enterprises  in 
almost  every  corner  of  Ireland. 

It  was   generally  believed   at   the  time  that  Chichester  had  fled 
directly  to  France ;  but  this  has  since  been  found  to  be  a  mistake,  as 
he  went,  in  the  first  instance,  for  refuge  to  Ireland,  where  he  had  an 
A 


2  SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

elder  brother,  John  Chichester,  and  two  cousins  named  Bourchier,  who 
were  all  servitors  of  the  English  at  various  places  in  the  land.  With 
their  connivance,  he  was  able  to  remain  for  a  time  in  concealment ;  but 
his  retreat  being  soon  discovered,  he  privately  made  his  escape  to 
France,  where  he  was  safe  from  further  pursuit,  and  where  he  enlisted 
as  a  soldier  of  fortune. 

His  astute  and  daring  nature  in  dealing  with  enemies  soon  made 
him  a  name  in  the  French  service,  whilst  several  of  his  influential 
friends  in  England  did  not  fail  to  inform  the  Queen  that  his  exile  was 
a  serious  loss  to  her  service,  especially  in  Ireland,  where  soldiers  of  his 
particular  calibre  were  then  so  urgently  needed.  It  soon  afterwards 
came  to  pass  that  the  offence  which  had  been  at  first  denounced  in 
Devonshire  as  highway  robbery  of  a  very  aggravated  character,  for 
which  the  perpetrator  had  to  fly  into  an  enemy's  country  for  refuge, 
was  condoned  and  pardoned  by  the  Queen,  and  then  as  a  matter  of 
course  represented  to  her  subjects  as  a  mere  youthful  frolic. 

Chichester  was  then  permitted  to  return  to  England,  and  thence 
sent  with  all  despatch  to  serve  Her  Majesty  in  Ireland.  It  was 
commonly  remarked  that  whilst  Elizabeth  sent  her  eagles  against 
Spain,  she  reserved  her  vultures  for  this  unhappy  country  ;  and  in  the 
present  instance  the  Irish  had  a  very  truthful  illustration  of  the  fact. 
Chichester  came  here  about  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  the  war 
against  the  Northern  Lords — a  war  which  had  been  largely  forced 
by  the  cruelties  and  oppressions  of  Fitzwilliam,  the  Lord  Deputy,  and 
Sir  Henry  Bagnall,  the  Field  Marshal  in  Ulster.  The  new  servitor, 
on  his  arrival,  found  the  whole  country  in  commotion,  and  was  soon 
able  to  enter  upon  his  work  with  heart  and  hand.  It  does  not  appear 
that  Chichester  was  appointed  to  any  military  command,  as  his  name 
is  not  mentioned  in  connection  with  any  of  the  battles  or  general 
fighting  during  this  war ;  so  his  duties  were  probably,  for  a  time  at 
least,  those  of  an  assistant  to  his  brother,  who  had  been  then  recently 
knighted  and  appointed  Governor  of  Carrickfergus — or  correctly 
speaking,  Governor  of  Upper  and  Lower  Clannaboy,  Carrickfergus 
being  his  base  of  operations. 

In  whatever  capacity,  however,  Arthur  Chichester  was  originally 
employed  during  the  first  year  or  two  after  his  coming  to  Ulster,  it  is 
very  certain  that  he  must  have  had  ample  opportunities  of  knowing 
well  the  condition  of  this  province,  and  it  is  equally  evident  that  he 
availed  himself  very  fully  and  freely  of  those  opportunities  ;  in  fact  he 
must  have  made  Ulster  a  special  subject  of  study,  as  he  afterwards, 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF    IRELAND.  3 

when  occasion  required,  was  able  to  depend  upon  his  practical  know- 
ledge of  all  its  leading  physical  features,  as  well  as  of  the  leading 
families  by  which  the  province  was  inhabited.  He  was  thus  able  to 
draw  up  attractive  and  thoroughly  intelligible  reports  for  the  Queen 
and  her  Council,  not  only  on  the  general  state  of  Ulster,  but  on  any, 
or  indeed  every,  part  thereof;  for  no  servitor  had  previously  made 
himself  so  well  acquainted  with  its  mountains  and  glens  ;  its  rivers, 
loughs,  islands,  and  sea-coasts ;  its  arable  lands  and  vast  sweeps  of 
pasturage  for  the  rearing  of  young  cattle  ;  its  bogs,  morasses,  woods, 
and  extensive  forests.  In  a  quiet  and  comparatively  unobtrusive  way 
he  must  also  have  gone  about  collecting  information  respecting  the 
affairs,  public  and  private,  of  all  the  great  leading  houses,  such  as 
those  of  the  O'Neills  (in  their  several  branches),  the  O'Donnells,  the 
O'Cahans,  the  O'Reillys,  the  O'Hanlons,  and  the  O'Dohertys  ;  the 
Maguires,  MacMahons,  and  even  the  MacDonnells,  a  Scottish  clan 
who  had  possession  of  the  Route  and  Glynns  in  Antrim. 

All  this  spying  out  of  the  land,  and  painstaking  on  the  part  of 
Chichester  to  obtain  the  necessary  information  respecting  its  owners 
and  inhabitants,  were  undertaken  for  a  very  special  purpose  ;  for  before 
he  left  England  it  was  distinctly  understood  that  Elizabeth's  policy  of 
plantation,  which  was  then  being  carried  out  in  Munster,  would  be 
adopted  also  in  Ulster  on  the  defeat  of  the  Northern  Lords.  The 
great  house  of  Desmond,  with  all  its  numerous  vassals  and  adherents, 
had  been  brought  down  to  utter  desolation  in  the  course  of  a  length- 
ened and  bloody  struggle,  and  now  Elizabeth's  needy  soldiers  were 
dividing  amongst  themselves  the  fair  lands  of  the  Geraldines.  Thus 
the  same  class  of  adventurers  in  Ulster  had  here  before  their  eyes  a 
grand  precedent,  and  an  almost  illimitable  reward  for  their  toil. 
Chichester  saw  the  situation  at  a  glance  ;  and  although  there  occurred 
several  serious  hitches  and  delays  in  bringing  about  his  Ulster  pro- 
gramme, yet  he  eventually  succeeded  in  working  it  out  according  to 
his  own  will,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  largely  to  his  own  advantage.  He 
encouraged  all  his  friends  to  keep  gathering  on  the  Irish  spoils  instead 
of  spending  themselves  in  the  distant  colonies  of  America,  maintaining 
that  it  would  be  better  "  to  work  with  their  hands  in  the  plantations 
of  Ulster  than  to  dance  and  play  in  the  plantations  of  Virginia."  The 
great  deeds  of  Drake  or  the  heroism  of  Gilbert  had  little  charm  for 
him.  He  envied  not  Raleigh  and  his  arcadian  dreams  of  a  kingdom  in 
the  setting  sun,  whose  great  natural  wealth  should  outshine  the  most 
opulent  of  eastern  nations  ;  no,  he  preferred  the  more  certain  reward 


4  SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

of  lands  nearer  home,  no  matter  how  their  acquisition  might  be 
brought  about,  nor  even  the  instruments  he  used  in  bringing  them 
to  pass.  The  poetic  glamour  and  Queen-worship  which  dazzled  many 
of  the  great  sea  pirates  of  Elizabeth's  time  shed  no  ray  upon  him  :  his 
dark  evil  countenance  and  morose  disposition  shadowed  forth  all  the 
bad  and  none  of  the  good  in  that  puritanic  wave  which,  half  a  century 
later,  was  to  sweep  over  the  face  of  England.  To  some  extent  he 
may  be  styled  the  forerunner  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  Certain  events 
occurred  in  the  year  1 597  which  brought  Chichester  to  the  front  more 
prominently  than  hitherto,  and  served  to  show  very  plainly  to  friends 
and  foes  what  manner  of  man  he  was.  His  brother,  Sir  John 
Chichester,  at  the  date  named  was  defeated  and  slain  in  a  skirmish 
with  the  Antrim  Scots  under  Sir  James  MacDonnell  of  Dunluce. 
Although  the  latter — who  was  the  eldest  surviving  son  and  heir  of  the 
renowned  Sorley  Boye — did  not  co-operate  with  the  Northern  Lords 
against  the  Government,  he  warmly  sympathized  with  them  ;  and 
indeed  his  brothers  and  leading  kinsmen  throughout  the  Route  and 
Glynns  took  a  prominent  place  in  the  actual  fighting.  This  course 
exasperated  the  English  officials  in  Ulster  against  the  Lord  of  Dunluce, 
as  they  would  have  naturally  felt  much  more  pride  in  attacking  him 
as  an  open  enemy  than  in  conferring  with  him  as  a  doubtful  friend. 
Sir  James  refused  point  blank  to  permit  his  vast  estates  to  be  taxed 
for  war  purposes  on  behalf  of  the  Government,  and  he  also  refused 
emphatically  to  surrender  to  Sir  John  Chichester  certain  noble  young 
Spaniards  whose  lives  he  had  saved,  or  hand  over  some  pieces  of 
cannon  which  he  and  his  brethren  had  rescued  from  the  wrecks 
of  Spanish  galleons  and  mounted  on  his  castle  of  Dunluce,  which  the 
former  had  demanded  as  booty  belonging  to  the  Crown,  requiring 
them  for  the  fortress  of  Carrickfergus. 

It  would  be  unkind  if  we  did  not  here  parenthetically  record  the 
charitable  action  of  MacDonnell  in  regard  to  these  same  Spanish 
castaways.  Theirs,  indeed,  was  a  hard  lot.  The  best  blood  of  Spain — 
young  nobles  from  a  southern  clime — inflated  with  the  arrogance  of 
power  and  wealth,  crusading,  as  they  thought,  in  a  worthy  cause, 
shattered  by  the  elements,  hunted  by  their  enemies,  unsuccoured  by 
their  friends.  All  along  the  western  coast  of  Ireland,  wherever  a 
Spanish  galleon  took  shelter  after  that  awful  run  around  the  Hebrides, 
the  poor  half-famished  soldiers  were  mercilessly  butchered.  Better, 
far  better,  was  the  lot  of  those  who  sank  in  mid-ocean,  or  yielded 
up  their  lives  in  the  breaking  waves  of  the  strand  or  on  the   cruel 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.  5 

rocks  of  an  angry  coast.  It  was  excusable  in  Fitzwilliam,  the  English 
deputy,  to  give  no  quarter  to  the  Spaniard,  his  country's  bitterest 
foe ;  but  of  many  of  the  Irish  better  was  expected.  Had  not  the 
Spaniard  assailed  their  conqueror,  their  enemy  ?  Were  they  not  of  their 
own  religion,  and  would-be  friends  ?  Sligo  men  vied  with  those  of  Clare 
in  their  inhuman  actions — plundering  thewrecks,stripping  or  murdering 
the  poor  distracted  wretches  that  clung  to  floating  planks  and  spars  ; 
or  worse  still,  yielding  them  for  favour  to  the  Viceroy,  to  be  marched 
in  shackles  to  Dublin,  and  there  butchered  by  dozens  in  the  castle 
yard.  The  inducements  held  out  to  the  Irish  and  the  threats  used  to 
act  thus,  scarcely  excuse  them  in  their  actions.  The  loyalty  drawn 
out  by  Sir  John  Perrot,  the  greatest  and  truest  of  all  the  Viceroys, 
should  not  have  forced  them  to  act  so  inhumanly.  It  is  a  dark  passage 
in  a  dark  time,  and  has  sombre  lessons. 


WRECK   OF    A   GALLEON    AT   PORT-N A-SPANIAGH,    NORTH    COAST   OF   ANTRIM, 
SEPTEMBER    1588. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  to  MacDonnell  of  Dunluce  pre-eminently  belongs 
the  place  of  honour  in  having  succoured  those  who  were  in  dire  dis- 
tress— defiantly  refusing  to  hand  over  the  wretches  who  had  fled  to 
him  for  safety,  and  those  flung  by  the  waves  at  the  foot  of  his  fortress 
castle — knowing  well  the  enemies  he  was  thus  making — preferring  to 
give  them  every  assistance  and  safe  transport  back  to  Spain,  through 
his  many  friends  in  Scotland. 

MacDonnell  complained  angrily  to  the  Government  that  soldiers 


()  SIR    ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD    DEPUTY   OF    IRELAND. 

from  the  garrison  at  Carrickfergus  had  been  sent  illegally  over  his  lands 
to  plunder  and  spoil  such  of  his  tenants  as  refused  to  pay  the  imposed 
taxes.  The  English  authorities  in  Ireland,  unwilling,  through  their  own 
weakness,  to  drive  this  powerful  chieftain  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy, 
recommended  that  the  two  knights  thus  so  threateningly  opposed  to 
each  other,  should  have  a  personal  meeting  to  arrange  an  amicable 
settlement  of  the  several  points  in  dispute.  A  day  was  appointed  for 
the  interview,  and  Sir  James  MacDonnell,  with  a  multitude  of  his 
hardy  Scots,  went  early  southward  to  be  present  in  due  time  at  the 
place  of  meeting  near  Carrickfergus.  Suspecting — what  afterwards 
really  happened — that  some  treacherous  attempt  might  be  made  on 
his  liberty  or  life,  he  left  the  greater  part  of  his  troops  at  a  place  called 
Altfracken,  near  the  present  village  of  Ballycarry,  and  went  forward 
with  a  small  company  of  personal  friends  and  attendants.  He  saw  at 
a  glance,  however,  that  Sir  John  Chichester,  who  had  come  with  a 
formidable  array,  had  some  sinister  design  in  view,  and  accordingly, 
when  MacDonnell  commenced  rather  hastily  to  retire  from  the  meeting, 
a  rush  was  made  upon  his  small  party  by  the  opposing  force  from  the 
garrison.  The  pursuit,  however,  suddenly  came  to  an  end,  for  the 
whole  Scottish  force  was  up  and  around  their  leader  just  in  time  to 
save  him  and  his  friends.  Sir  John  Chichester  fell  soon  after  the  fight 
commenced,  and  his  force  fled  in  all  directions — some  back  to  their 
garrison,  some  into  Island  Magee,  others  taking  refuge  in  various  places 
throughout  the  district.  Among  the  refugees  was  Sir  Moses  Hill,  then 
an  unknown  lieutenant,  who  found  a  hiding-place  in  a  cave  in  Island 
Magee,  which  cave  is  known  by  his  name  to  this  day.  Among  the 
runners  also  was  Lieutenant  Dobbs — the  first  of  his  name  in  the  district 
— and  he  ingloriously  retreated  under  a  bridge  until  the  danger  had 
passed.  Another  runaway  was  Lieutenant  John  Dalway,  who  concealed 
himself  for  a  time  in  the  dry  flow  or  ooze  left  by  the  shallow  water 
that  had  once  separated  Island  Magee  from  the  mainland. 

The  survivors  of  the  English  force  were  in  such  haste  away  from 
the  Glen  of  Altfracken  that  they  did  not  even  attempt  to  carry  with 
them  the  body  of  their  dead  Governor.  Sir  James  MacDonnell  had 
it  brought  to  a  flat  stone  and  decapitated,  sending  the  head  to  the 
camp  of  O'Neill  and  O'Donnell,  who  were  then  in  Tyrone,  where  it  was 
made  a  football  by  the  rude  gallowglass  of  the  army.  This  little 
barbarity  was  done,  no  doubt,  by  way  of  encouragement  to  the  Irish 
leaders,  and  also  as  an  act  of  retaliation  against  the  English,  who  had 
previously  thus    mutilated    the  body  of  MacDonnell's  elder  brother, 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.  7 

Alexander,  sending  the  head  to  be  stuck  up  on  a  spike  in  front  of 
Dublin  Castle.  Sir  James  MacDonnell,  after  that  day's  achievement, 
retired  quietly  to  Dunluce  Castle,  where  he  was  permitted  to  dwell  in 
peace  until  the  time  of  his  death  in  1601.  The  news  of  the  conflict  at 
Altfracken  brought  consternation  to  the  English  in  Ulster,  and  deep 
deliberation  amongst  the  authorities  in  Dublin  as  to  whom  they  should 
appoint  to  the  governorship  at  Carrickfergus.  The  mandate,  however, 
soon  came  from  London  that  Sir  Arthur  Chichester  was  to  succeed  his 
brother;  and  although  Sir  James  MacDonnell  and  others  remonstrated 
against  this  appointment,  the  Queen  quickly  made  it  final,  knowing 
through  some  influential  channel  that  Sir  Arthur  would  not  only  be 
well  able  to  give  a  good  account  of  the  Irish  throughout  Upper  and 
Lower  Clannaboy,  but  would  also  keep  a  sharp  look-out  on  the  Scots 
in  the  Route  and  Glynns. 

The  region  over  which  Sir  Arthur  Chichester  thus  became  Governor 
had  been  known  time  immemorial  as  one  of  the  most  important  in 
Ulster.  Its  original  extent  varied  somewhat  in  the  lapse  of  time  and 
according  to  local  circumstances,  but  it  was  generally  understood  to 
comprehend  the  greater  portions  of  the  present  counties  of  Down  and 
Antrim,  stretching  from  Carlingford  Bay  in  the  south  to  the  mountain 
of  Sliev  Mis  in  the  north.  Its  earliest  recorded  name  was  Dalaraidhe, 
or  the  country  owned  by  the  family  or  descendants  of  Araidhe — a 
prince  who  lived  at  an  early  period  in  Ulster  history. 

With  this  people  were  afterwards  associated  many  members  of  a 
kindred  tribe  known  as  Cruithne,  or  wheat-growers — sometimes 
called  Picts,  or  painted,  from  Cruith,  "  colour" — and  descended 
from  Irial  Glunmore  (son  of  the  famous  Conall  Carnagh)  and  a 
daughter  of  Eochy,  the  ruler  or  King  of  the  Cruithne  in  Scotland. 
Dal-Araidhe,  however,  continued  to  retain  its  original  name,  although 
its  limits  were  then  supposed  to  be  Nevvry  on  the  south  and  Glenravel 
on  the  north. 

When  the  three  Collas  conquered  southern  Ulster  in  the  fourth 
century,  the  dwellers  on  the  conquered  lands  were  obliged  to  seek 
shelter  in  Dalaraidhe,  which  from  that  time,  although  only  a  fragment 
of  Ulster,  was  known  as  Uladh,  or  Ulidia.  In  later  times,  and  because 
of  some  unknown  territorial  arrangements,  the  name  of  this  section  or 
division  of  Ulster  appears  in  public  records  as  Trian  Congal, 
or  "  Congal's  Third,"  Congal  being,  no  doubt,  a  prince  of  the  royal 
house  of  the  Ui  Cairill  (O'Carroll),  and  this  division  his  allotted  share. 
By  this  last  name  it  was  known  on  the  arrival  of  the  English  under 


8  SIR   ARTHUR  CHICHESTER,  LORD  DEPUTY  OF   IRELAND. 

De  Courcy ;  but  after  its  seizure  by  the  O'Neills,  the  whole  region,  until 
the  seventeenth  century,  was  called  Clannaboy — Clann-Aedh-buidhe — 
from  a  chieftain  named  Hugh  O'Neill,  surnamed  Buidhe,  "of  the 
yellow  hair."  The  River  Lagan  divided  the  whole  region  into  nearly 
two  equal  parts,  the  southern  part  being  designated  as  Upper  and 
the  northern  as  Lower  Clannaboy. 

When  Chichester  entered  on  his  work  he  was  put  in  command  of 
a  strong  military  force  of  picked  men,  including,  of  course,  the  garrison 
at  Carrickfergus,  whilst  his  officers  were  men  specially  after  his  own 
heart ;  in  other  words,  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  their  commander's 
policy  and  aims.  During  the  seven  years  of  his  governorship  at 
Carrickfergus,  from  1597  until  1604,  among  his  officers  were  Moses 
Hill,  Fulke  Conway,  Hugh  Clotworthy,  Francis  Stafford,  Robert 
Norton,  Henry  Upton,  Roger  Langford,  and  John  Dalway.  It  speaks 
volumes  for  the  zeal  and  determination  with  which  these  men  must 
have  "  served  their  Queen,"  that  they  all  succeeded  in  carving  out  and 
obtaining  large  estates  for  themselves,  and  that  they  all,  coming  to 
Dalaraidhe,  or  Clannaboy,  with  nothing  but  their  clothes,  and  perhaps 
their  swords,  accomplished,  with  one  exception,  the  grand  ambition  of 
founding  families  throughout  this  celebrated  portion  of  Ulster. 

Sir  Moses  Hill,  the  founder  of  the  Downshire  family,  made  his 
home  in  Upper  or  Southern  Clannaboy ;  Sir  Fulke  Conway,  the 
founder  of  the  Hertford  family,  got  possession  of  Killultagh,  a  separate 
district,  then  belonging  neither  to  Antrim  nor  to  Down  ;  Sir  Hugh 
Clotworthy,  the  founder  of  the  Massereene  family,  took  up  his  quarters 
on  the  western  shore  of  Lough  Neagh ;  Sir  Francis  Stafford's  broad 
lands  lay  a  little  further  north-west,  and  along  the  green  banks  of  the 
Lower  Bann  ;  Sir  Roger  Langford  selected  lands  on  the  eastern  shore 
of  Lough  Neagh,  opposite  Massereene,  and  including  the  celebrated 
Irish  territory  of  Killmacavitt ;  Sir  Robert  Norton's  estate  lay  along 
the  Six-Mile- Water,  and  on  it  stood  the  old  town  of  the  Temple  of 
the  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  (the  estate,  however,  passed 
to  the  Upton  family  of  Templepatrick) ;  Sir  John  Dalway,  after  much 
wandering  and  many  vicissitudes,  found  at  last  a  resting-place  on  the 
picturesque  slopes  of  Bellahill,  near  Carrickfergus ;  and  last  of  all, 
but  certainly  not  least,  Chichester  himself,  the  founder  of  the  Donegall 
family,  secured  a  very  great  sweep  of  Lower  Clannaboy,  reaching 
northward  from  the  Lagan  to  the  boundaries  of  the  Templetown  and 
Langford  Lodge  Estates,  and  thence  north-eastward  until  it  included 
Carrickfergus  and  the  adjoining  lands. 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.  9 

But  this  sweep,  ample  as  it  was,  did  not  reconcile  Chichester  to  the 
disappointment  of  not  being  able  to  secure,  as  his  share,  the  great 
Irish  territory  in  Upper  Clannaboy,  then  and  still  known  as  Castle- 
reagh,  extending  southward  from  the  shore  of  Belfast  Lough,  below 
Holywood,  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Lisburn  ;  its  green  slopes  over- 
looking the  valley  of  the  Lagan  and  much  of  the  Antrim  coast.  On 
this  great  territory,  now  divided  into  the  two  modern  baronies  of  Upper 
and  Lower  Castlereagh,  he  had  set  his  heart,  first  riding  about  its 
fields  and  around  its  boundaries  at  the  head  of  his  flying  column  from 
Carrickfergus.     Its  chieftain,  Con  O'Neill,  had  taken  a  prominent  place 


SIR    ARTHUR    CHICHESTER    LEAVING   THE    NORTH    GATE    OF    CARRICKFERGUS. 


in  the  then  northern  revolt  against  Elizabeth,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  had  thus  forfeited  his  lands  to  the  Crown  ;  which  lands  Chi- 
chester felt  pretty  confident  he  would  very  soon  be  able  to  secure  for 
himself.  It  so  happened,  however,  that  suddenly,  and  to  the  great 
surprise  of  both  friends  and  foes,  Con  O'Neill  deserted  the  Irish  cause 
and  surrendered  himself  to  the  Queen.  As  a  likely  means  of  encourag- 
ing other  Irish  leaders  to  follow  in  Con's  footsteps,  Elizabeth  gladly 
accepted  his  surrender  and  restored  him  to  his  lands  :  thus  Chichester's 


10  SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

cherished  anticipations  were  frustrated,  and  to  make  matters  worse,  he 
was  obliged  to  assist  Con  in  re-entering  and  keeping  possession  of  his 
castle  and  lands  ;  for  no  sooner  did  his  desertion  of  the  Irish  become 
known,  than  his  kinsman,  Bryan  MacArt  O'Neill,  seized  Castlereagh 
and  held  it  for  the  Northern  Lords  until  Chichester  and  Con  together 
succeeded,  after  much  delay,  in  regaining  the  castle  for  its  rightful 
owner.  When  Con,  however,  had  time  to  look  over  his  lands,  he 
found  that  he  had  not  returned  a  moment  too  soon  to  preserve  his 
tenantry  from  the  attacks  of  Chichester  and  his  soldiers.  It  happened, 
unfortunately,  soon  afterwards,  in  the  closing  days  of  Elizabeth's  life, 
that  some  of  Con's  servants  had  engaged  in  a  brawl  with  certain  of 
the  Queen's  tax-gatherers,  who  had  been  appointed  at  Belfast,  and  in 
this  fight  one  of  the  latter  was  killed.  Thereupon  Chichester  instantly 
sprang  upon  Con,  had  him  thrown  into  a  dungeon  at  Carrickfergus, 
and  had  judges  and  jurors  prepared  to  try  him  on  a  charge  of  high 
treason  in  levying  war  on  Her  Majesty,  and  what  not.  Chichester 
believed  that  he  had  here  another,  and  a  still  better,  opportunity  of 
finally  disposing  of  Con,  and  of  thus,  after  all,  securing  the  green  slopes 
of  Castlereagh  that  looked  down  so  temptingly  upon  the  ford  of 
Belfast ;  but  he  was  again  doomed  to  fail,  and  this  second  disappoint- 
ment he  must  have  felt  even  more  bitterly  than  his  first. 

During  Con's  imprisonment  at  Carrickfergus  his  devoted  wife  kept 
hovering  constantly  around  his  place  of  confinement,  thus  attracting 
the  notice  and  sympathy  of  Anna  Dobbin,  the  daughter  of  the  chief 
gaoler  in  the  old  castle.  On  an  evening  when  these  two  ladies  were 
talking — not  unlikely  condoling  together — over  the  approaching  doom 
of  the  prisoner,  in  came  two  Scottish  gentlemen — brothers — named 
Montgomery,  one  of  whom  was  Anna  Dobbin's  accepted  suitor,  and 
soon  afterwards  became  her  husband.  Being  formally  introduced  to 
Lady  O'Neill  (for  Con  had  been  dubbed  an  English  knight),  these 
gentlemen  announced  that  the  Queen  was  dead,  and  that  their  King, 
James  VI.,  was  being  everywhere  proclaimed  as  her  successor.  From 
this  starting-point  the  little  company  entered  into  a  free  and  friendly 
talk  about  public  affairs  in  general.  The  Montgomerys  had  heard  of 
Con  O'Neill's  arrest,  and  expressed  their  abhorrence  in  no  measured 
terms  of  Chichester's  conduct  in  the  affair.  From  Irish  topics  the 
conversation  turned  to  Scotland,  where,  as  the  visitors  stated,  there 
was  then  a  widespread  expectation  that  Ulster  was  soon  to  be  planted 
with  English  and  Scottish  settlers.  These  Montgomerys,  although 
from  Largs,  were  nearly  related  to  the  Montgomerys  of  Braidstane, 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.  II 

who  had  been  then  taking  much  pains  to  understand  the  exact  position 
in  Ulster,  and  regularly  communicating  to  the  Scottish  king  whatever 
information  they  could  obtain  on  the  subject.  For  much  of  this 
information  the  Braidstane  Montgomerys  were  indebted  to  these 
gentlemen  from  Largs,  who  owned  two  trading  vessels,  and  had  thus 
frequent  opportunities  of  visiting  the  coasts  of  Ulster. 

To  this  conversation  Lady  O'Neill  kept  listening  intently,  and 
when  it  drew  to  an  end  she  came  forward  solemnly  to  the  speakers  and 
said  that  her  husband  and  she  would  willingly  and  thankfully  give  the 
half  of  their  whole  lands  to  anyone  who  would  obtain  his  pardon  from 
the  King.  The  two  Montgomerys  seemed  at  first  astounded  :  they 
stared  for  an  instant  at  each  other  ;  then  consulted  together  ;  and 
finally  turning  to  Lady  O'Neill,  they  proposed  that  she  should  return 
with  them  that  afternoon  to  Largs  ;  that  they  would  accompany  her 
the  next  day  to  Braidstane,  and  that  she  could  there  make  her  offer 
to  the  laird  of  that  ilk,  as  there  was  certainly  no  time  to  be  lost  in 
making  any  efforts  that  could  yet  possibly  be  made  for  her  husband's 
safety.  Lady  O'Neill  accepted  their  counsel  with  grateful  emotion, 
and  delightedly  rendered  her  entire  acquiescence  in  the  arrangement 
thus  proposed.  They  found  the  Laird  of  Braidstane  eagerly  anxious 
to  assist,  but  only  on  the  condition  that  Con  O'Neill  should  be  rescued 
by  some  means  from  prison,  and  thus  enabled  to  accompany  him 
into  the  presence  of  the  King.  The  party  from  Largs  then  returned 
thither  in  hot  haste,  re-crossing  the  channel  to  Carrickfergus.  Hugh 
Montgomery  of  Braidstane,  afterwards  Lord  Viscount  Montgomery  of 
the  Great  Ardes,  saw  at  a  glance  how  significant  this  offer  on  the  part 
of  Lady  O'Neill  might  be  made,  both  for  himself  and  his  two  kinsmen, 
who  had  so  interested  themselves  in  the  affair  ;  but  he  felt  also  that 
whilst  he  would  be  engaged  in  negotiations  with  the  King,  the  prisoner 
might  be  executed,  as  the  time  of  his  trial  drew  very  near,  and  there- 
fore he  urged  on  all  concerned  the  absolute  necessity  of  Con's  imme- 
diate rescue.  Fortunately,  Anna  Dobbin,  through  sympathy  and  pity 
for  the  O'Neills,  and  from  the  urgent  solicitations  of  her  intended 
husband,  not  only  connived  at  Con's  escape,  but  even  arranged  the 
only  means  by  which  it  could  be  accomplished.  The  escape  was  not 
discovered  until  Con  had  time  to  hide  himself  in  the  ruins  of  an  old 
church  at  Donaghadee  ;  and  before  Chichester  could  find  his  place  of 
concealment,  a  little  boat  had  carried  him  out  into  the  channel  to  a 
friendly  vessel  that  soon  conveyed  him  to  Largs  ;  and  so  Chichester 
lost  his  second   and    last   opportunity   of  getting   into   Castlereagh. 


12  BRONZE   SERPENTINE   LATC11ETS. 

Montgomery,  however,  obtained  eventually  one-third  of  Con  O'Neill's 
lands.  For  although  the  King  had  sanctioned  the  conditions  of  the 
original  agreement  for  the  full  half  thereof,  James  Hamilton,  afterwards 
Lord  Viscount  Clandeboy,  had  also  supplied  James  VI.  with  much 
information  about  Ireland,  and  had  rendered  other  services,  and  was 
thus  able  to  induce  him  to  divide  Con's  estates  into  three  parts — one 
for  Con,  one  for  Montgomery,  and  one  for  Hamilton.  Out  of  Con's 
third  part,  however,  one  of  that  generous  Irish  chieftain's  first  grants 
— indeed  we  think  the  very  first — was  made  by  him  to  the  two  Mont- 
gomerys  of  Largs,  and  an  ample  grant  of  lands  in  perpetuity  it  was 
whereon  Anna  Dobbin  and  her  husband  lived  happily  until  the  end 
of  their  days. 

(To  be  continued. ) 


Bronze  Serpentine  Latch etsf 

and  other  cumbrous  Dress  Fasteners. 

By  Col.  Wood-Martin,  a.d.c. 

( Continued  from  vol.  ix,  p.  166.J 

INCE  the  first  part  of  this  paper  was  printed  off,  D  of  No.  1, 
plate  i;  No.  2  of  same  plate;  No.  3  of  plate  ii;  and  Nos.  1,2, 
and  3,  plate  iii,  have  been  more  closely  examined.  All  show 
abrasion  and  wearing  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  disc,  which  may  point 
to  its  employment  as  a  button ;  but  it  is  not  possible  to  assert  that  the 
abrasion  was  necessarily  caused  by  the  disc  being  so  used. 

It  would  appear  as  if  the  serpentine  latchet  were  a  development 
of  the  bent,  curved,  crooked,  or  serpentine  pin,  with  disc-shaped  head; 
a  reproduction  of  a  common  dealg,  or  thorn.  In  demonstration  a  few 
examples  may  be  given. 


S  tHCH£S 


Fig.  1. 

PROBABLY    A   CLOAK    PIN. 
After  a  drazving  in  "  Journal 0/ tin  Kilkenny  Architological  Society,"  vol.  i  (new  series),  p.  ig^. 


BRONZE   SERPENTINE   LATCHETS. 


13 


Fig.  i,  a  large  cloak  pin  ;  the  cone,  originally  gilt,  is  of  dark- 
coloured  bronze. 

No.  1,  fig.  2,  the  knob  a  good  deal  corroded;  acquired  by  the 
R.I. A.  in  1874;  was  found  near  Tullaghmore.  Nos.  2,  3,  and  4  were 
presented  by  the  Shannon  Commissioners ;  but  for  their  pin-like 
extremities  they  might  be  taken  for  ear-rings. 


3  /MCH£S 


Fig.  2. 

CURVED    BRONZE    PINS. 
Science  and  Art  Museum,  Dublin.  Drawn  by  Gerald  Wakeman. 


No.  1,  fig.  3,  of  peculiar  form,  $h  inches  in  over-all  length,  has  a 
thin  plate  riveted  on  the  bend,  and  an  oval  disc  on  the  front  of  the 
ring,  both  probably  intended  for  the  reception  either  of  enamel  or  of 
ornamental  stones.  Of  No.  2  and  3,  acquired  in  1881,  and  of  No.  4, 
no  information  is  obtainable.  No.  5,  clean  and  sharp  in  outline,  was 
presented  by  the  Shannon  Commissioners.  No.  6  was  found  in  a  bog,  in 
thetownland  of  Carnfinton,  Rasharkin,  County  Antrim, in  the  year  188 1. 


14 


BRONZE   SERPENTINE    LATCH ETS. 


C.  H.  Read,  keeper  of  the  British  antiquities,  etc.,  in  the  British 
Museum,  kindly  forwarded  drawings  of  two  bronze  pins,  identical  with 
No.  2  of  fig.  3.     Of  one  there  was  no  history.     The  other  was  found 


S 


o 

Li. 


•4    INCHES 

_» 


Pig-  3- 

CROOKED    BRONZE    PINS. 
Science  and  Art  Museum,  Dublin.  Drawn  by  Gerald  Wahentan. 


at  Bury-St.-Edmunds,  Suffolk.  A  third  pin,  inlaid  with  coral,  lay  in 
a  late  Celtic  chariot  burial,  in  the  E.  R.  of  Yorkshire  {Proc.  Soc.  Ant., 
vol.  xvii,  p.  120).  A  fourth  pin  formed  portion  of  a  bronze  find  near 
Bath. 


BRONZE   SERPENTINE    LATCHETS. 


15 


Fig.  4,  a  bronze  pin,  of  dark  colour,  an  excellent  example  of  this 
remarkable  and  unusual  form,  was  found  near  Ballymoney,  County 
Antrim.  The  cavity  underneath  the  ring  was  evidently  formed  for 
the  reception  of  some  description  of  enamel  or  of  ornamental  or 
precious  stone.  It  bears  a  great  resemblance  to  a  bronze  pin  found 
at  Taunton  (see  fig.  451,  p.  367,  Evans's  Ancient  Bronze  Implements). 
In  the  English  example  the  stem  presents  an  even  more  curved 
appearance,  approximating  to  the  contour  of  the  Irish  serpentine 
latchet.     There  is  no  cavity  for  enamel  or  stone  on  the  acus. 

The  pins  represented  in  fig.  2  are  protoplasts 
of  the  types  on  plate  i  (see  ante,  vol.  ix,  p.  161). 
Those  in  figs.  3  and  4  present  forms  from  which 
the  latchet  fasteners  on  plates  ii  and  iii  {ante, 
vol.  ix,  pp.  164-5)  appear  to  be  derived. 

In  many  instances  collections  of  small  bronze 
rings  have  been  found  disassociated  as  well  as  in 
conjunction  with  human  remains.  The  number 
of  rings  from  any  one  locality  generally  varies 
from  two  to  five  or  more.  These  rings,  for  pur- 
poses of  primary  investigation,  divide  into  two 
classes — unpierced  rings,  and  rings  pierced  in  the 
sides,  and  through  which  a  pin  could  be  passed. 
Solid  bronze  rings  were  formerly  believed,  by 
antiquaries,  to  be  "  ring-money,"  used  for  pur- 
poses of  barter ;  but,  with  a  greater  degree  of 
plausibility,  they  are  now  considered  to  have 
formed  part  of  (in  some  instances  to  have  consti- 
tuted entire)  sword  belts ;  when  discovered  in 
great  numbers  and  linked  together,  defensive 
armour.     Solid    bronze    rings — judging    by    the 

numbers  in  which  they  have  been  found — appear  to  have  been 
much  in  use.  They  are,  in  general,  too  small  for  armlets  or  anklets, 
too  weighty  for  ear-rings,  too  large  for  finger  or  thumb  rings,  and,  in 
the  majority  of  instances,  not  discovered  in  sufficient  numbers  to 
support  the  theory  of  their  having  been  used  as  ring-armour  attached 
closely  together  to  portions  of  the  warrior's  leathern  garment.  Of 
four  bronze  rings  found  on  the  site  of  the  lake  dwelling  of  Lisna- 
croghera  (see  plate  xv,  p.  72,  Lake  Dwellings  of  Ireland),  one  was 
formed  of  two  thin  plates  secured  together  by  rivets  of  the  same 
material ;  the  others  were  solid.    Enamelled  bronze  sheaths,  containing 


Fig.  4. 

Reproduced  from  the 

Ulster  Journal  of  Archeology' 

(first  series),  vol.  v,  p.  /jy. 

Half  real  size. 


l6  BRONZE   SERPENTINE    LATCHETS. 

iron  swords,  were  discovered  in  the  same  place.  From  the  enamel- 
ling, style  of  ornamentation,  and  shape  of  the  iron  blades,  one  would 
be  inclined  to  relegate  the  sheaths  to  about  the  fourth  century  of  the 
Christian  era. 

As  before  stated,  the  now  most  generally  accepted  theory  is  that 
rings  of  this  class,  when  found  in  small  numbers,  were  connected  with 
leathern  sword  belts.  A  Gaulish  sword  belt  may  be  seen  in  the 
British  Museum,  composed  entirely  of  similar  rings — found  in  a  grave 
in  the  department  of  Mame,  France — supposed  to  date  from  the  third 
century  B.C. 

As  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  in  only  one  instance  has  a  pin,  such 
as  could  be  used  in  fastening  a  cloak  or  tunic,  been  found  in  con- 
junction with  two  rings  pierced  through  the  circumference  ;  yet  this 
solitary  discovery  goes  a  long  way  to  prove  that  the  rings  and   pin 


■  IHCHLS 


Fig.  5. 

BRONZE    DRESS   FASTENER. 
After  an  illustration  in  the  "  Journal  R.H.A.A.I."  (third series),  7>ol.  i,f>.  164. 

were  employed  as  a  dress  fastener.  The  great  length  of  the  pin  (eleven 
inches)  cannot  be  adduced  as  militating  against  its  use  as  forming 
portion  of  a  latchet ;  for,  as  before  stated,  the  enormous  size  of  garment 
fasteners  is  often  referred  to  in  old  Irish  historical  romances. 

If  one  of  the  pins  used  by  ladies  to  secure  their  headgear  when 
"  motoring "  were  found  by  some  future  antiquary,  when  motors  are 
a  thing  of  the  past,  we  might  imagine  him  writing  a  long  and  learned 
essay  on  "  Daggers  and  implements  of  the  twentieth  century."  These 
pins  are  quite  as  long  as  the  curious  bronze  pin  (fig.  5)  with  attached 
rings — or,  as  the  discoverer  describes  them,  "  with  two  thick  bronze 
rings  on  it" — found  in  the  year  1868,  in  an  ancient  sepulchre,  on  a 
mountain  slope  in  County  Tyrone.  Having  regard  to  the  relative 
positions  of  the  rings  to  the  pin,  the  combination  seems  to  have  been 
devised  to  act  as  a  dress  fastener ;  for  if  the  perforated  rings  were 
attached  one  on  either  side  of  a  garment  designed  to  fasten  across 
the  chest  or  over  the  shoulder,  and  so  placed  as  to  allow  the  position 
of  one  to  be  higher  than  the  other,  the  pin,  when  dropped  through 


BRONZE   SERPENTINE   LATCHETS. 


17 


the  opes  in  the  two  rings,  would  hold  the  edges  of  the  garment 
securely  together  (as  shown  in  fig.  6),  whilst  the  strain  would,  to  a 
great  extent,  be  taken  off  the  fastener.  The  cloak,  tunic,  or  other  gar- 
ment— probably  of  skin  or  leather — would,  on  account  of  its  inherent 
stiffness,  almost  necessitate  the  use  of  a  massive  fastener.  This, 
though  cumbrous  and  complicated,  is  not  more  so  than  is  the  arrange- 
ment in  parts  of  Northern  Africa  in  the  present  day,  where  two 
brooches,  connected  by  a  chain,  are  placed,  one  on  either  side  of  the 
shoulder,  to  secure  the  cloak  or  tunic.  If  the  theory  of  the  manner  in 
which  this  ancient  Irish  latchet  was 
used  be  correct,  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  this  style  of  latchet  is  an 
intermediate  link  between  the  pin 
with  attached  head  and  the  ring- 
brooch.1  As  leather  gave  place  to 
material  of  a  softer  texture,  the  pin 
became  the  true  fastener,  rendering 
the  ring,  or  rings,  unnecessary. 
Ancient  man  was,  however,  a  great 
Conservative  :  the  ring,  though  use- 
less, was  retained,  and  afforded  an 
ample  field  for  development,  as  well 
in  regard  to  size  as  in  ornamental 
details. 

The  bronze  rings  in  the  Science 
and  Art  Museum,  Dublin,  may  be  arranged,  for  purposes  of  detailed 
investigation,  in  four  classes,  but  even  then  the  classification  cannot 
be  adhered  to  exactly. 

Fig.  7  represents  three  hollow  rings,  with  trumpet-shaped  openings 
on  the  outer  and  corresponding  opes  on  the  inner  circumference. 
These  rings  may  have  been  used  as  fasteners,  in  conjunction  with  a 
bronze  pin — as  in  fig.  6 — attached  to  the  cloak,  probably  by  lacing 
passing  round  the  trumpet-shaped  mouth  ;  or  they  may  have  formed 
portion  of  a  sword  belt  or  of  ring-armour.  But  there  are  several  very 
similar  rings  on  view  in  the  Science  and  Art  Museum,  with  smaller 
rings  on  each  sideA  connected  by  a  wire  or  metallic  band,  as  in  fig.  10. 
It  seems  reasonable,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  they  were  all  like  that 
originally.      No.  1. — No.  84  in  the  Catalogue  R.I. A.,  and  the   largest 

1  Journal  R.H.A.A.I.,  vol.  i  (third  series),  on  the  "Contents  of  a  Sepulchre  of  the  Bronze 
Period  "  :  Thomas  O'Gorman.  The  pin  and  rings  are  also  described  and  figured  in  Sir  John 
Evans's  Bronze  Implements,  p.  398,  fig.  496, 

B 


Fig.  6. 

Showing  manner  in  which  this  class  of  Bronze 
Fastener  may  have  been  used. 


1 8 


BRONZE    SERPENTINE    LATCHETS. 


of  its  class  in  the  collection — is  a  hollow  bronze  ring,  with  trumpet- 
shaped  openings  at  opposite  sides  of  the  outer  circumference  and 
corresponding  opes  on  the  inner  side.  No.  2. — No.  81  in  the  Cata- 
logue R.I. A. — has  the  trumpet  openings  somewhat  different  from  and 
more  elaborate  than  those  in  No.  1.  No.  3. — No.  92  in  the  Catalogue 
R.I.  A. ;  the  smallest  of  its  class  in  the  collection — is  a  diminutive 
reproduction  of  No.  1. 

Fig.  8  depicts  two  hollow  rings,  with  central  inserted  boss,  small 
rings  around  the  circumference,  and  trumpet-shaped  openings,  as  in 


Scale    or  Inches 


Fig-  7- 

BRONZE   RINGS   OF  THE   FIRST   CLASS. 

Science  ami  Art  Museur, 


Scale    or    Inches 


1 

■   1  1 


4- 

1 


Fig.  8. 

BRONZE   RINGS   OF   THE   SECOND    CLASS. 
Dnhiin.         Drawn  by  Gerald  H'akeittan. 


fig.  7.  Unfortunately  there  are  no  reference  numbers  on  these  objects, 
both  greatly  damaged.  One  is  illustrated  (fig.  491,  restored)  in  the 
Catalogue  of  the  Museum  R.I. A.  It  may  be  observed  that,  in  archae- 
ological illustrations  of  attempted  restorations  of  antiques,  the  restored 
portion  of  the  object  should  be  indicated  by  dotted  lines,  or  some 
such  device,  to  enable  one  to  judge  of  the  correctness  of  the  attempt. 


BRONZE   SERPENTINE   LATCHETS.  1 9 

No.  2  of  fig.  8  is  hollow,  with  central  inserted  boss,  small  rings  around 
the  circumference,  spaced  further  apart  than  is  the  case  in  No.  i,  and 
trumpet-shaped  openings  on  opposite  sides,  through  which  runs  a  piece 
of  thick  wire,  observable  where  the  ring  has  been  broken.  It  is  slightly 
smaller  than  No.  I,  and  would  appear  to  have  been  used  either  as  a 
strap-fastener  or  as  a  link  in  ring-armour.  It  can  hardly  be  suggested 
that  the  diminutive  rings  around  the  circumference  of  the  articles 
represented  in  figs.  8  and  9  could  have  been  designed  for  facilitating 
the  sewing  or  lacing  on  of  the  larger  rings  to  the  cloak  or  other 
garment  to  be  used  as  fasteners,  as  depicted  in  fig.  6,  as  the  wire  still 
remaining  and  running  through  the  apertures  militates  against  this  ; 
yet  it  is  quite  possible  that  these  rings  may  have  formed  a  description 
of  armour  being  attached  to  a  hide,  to  which  the  smaller  rings  could 
have  been  laced. 

Fig.  9  shows  two  presumably  hollow  rings,  with  central  inserted 
boss,  and  small  rings  around  the  circumference,  but  without  openings 
in  the  large  ring.  They  are  evidently  portion  of  ring-armour,  as  an 
almost  complete  piece,  of  which  one  of  them  formed  part,  was  found. 
No.  1,  fig.  9,  with  smaller  rings  attached  to  the  circumference — all  but 
one  broken — is  illustrated  (restored)  in  the  Catalogue  Museum  R.I. A., 
as  fig.  492.  No.  2,  fig.  9,  is  one  of  the  shoulder  rings,  from  the  appar- 
ently undoubted  piece  of  ring-armour,  before  mentioned,  discovered 
in  the  year  1835.  The  place  in  which  it  lay  was  carefully  searched, 
but  no  traces  of  human  or  animal  osseous  remains  were  observed.  The 
armour  consists  of  two  broad  chains,  each  formed  of  five  strands  of 
rings  depending  from  two  large  wheel-like  bosses,  which  rested  upon 
the  wearer's  shoulders,  one  chain  protecting  the  breast,  the  other  the 
back.  In  the  middle  of  each  there  is  a  rectangular  plate  with  open- 
work pattern.  Similar  chains,  of  seven  strands  each,  hung  from  the 
bosses  over  the  upper  part  of  the  wearer's  arms  to  protect  them,  as  in 
modern  times  iron  chains  were  slung  outside  wooden  vessels  going 
into  action,  to  insure  the  most  vital  parts  from  injury.  This  almost 
complete  antique  was  found  in  company  with  a  number  of  detached 
pieces,  consisting  of  fragments  of  chain  of  somewhat  larger  dimensions 
and  bosses  of  various  shapes.  No.  2  of  fig.  9  shows  the  off-going 
chains  attached  to  the  rings  at  the  circumference  of  the  large  ring. 
It  is  not  necessary,  to  the  illustration  of  the  subject,  to  draw  the 
entire  article. 

Nos.  1  and  2  of  fig.  10  are  two  hollow  bronze  rings,  with  smaller 
rings,  one  on  each  side,  connected  by  a  flat  bar  or  strap  that  passes 


20  BRONZE   SERPENTINE    LATCHETS. 

through  the  two  sides  of  the  larger  ring.  These  articles  were  probably 
strap  connections.  No.  3  is  a  hollow  bronze  ring,  pierced  with  round 
holes— the  only  one  of  its  kind  in  the  collection  of  the  R.I. A. —and 
identical  with  those  shown  in  figs.  5  and  6— portions  of  a  latchet.  Thus 


Scale     or    Inches 

0  1  ?.  3 

1  1     I     1   J I L 


5  CALL      OF     INCHES 


Fig   9.  Fig.  10. 

BRO.NZK    RINGS   OF    THE   THIRD    CLASS.  BRONZE    RINGS   OK    TIIK    FOURTH    CLASS. 

Science  and  Art  Museum,   Dublin.         Drawn  by  Gerald  U'akenian. 


in  only  two  instances — fig.  5,  and  in  No.  3  of  fig.  10 — can  it,  with 
any  degree  of  certainty,  be  advanced  that  the  rings  were  used,  in 
conjunction  with  a  pin,  as  a  dress  fastener.1 

No  information  as  to  where  any  of  the  articles  in  fig.  10  were 
found  could  be  procured.  They  appear  to  have  been  acquired  by  the 
R.I. A.  in  the  year  1882. 

(To  be  continued. ) 


1  The    writer    must  acknowledge   his    indebtedness   to    Gerald    Wakeman    for   the    careful 
manner  in  which  he  has  illustrated  this  paper,  as  well  as  for  much  valuable  information. 


THE    FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1 759- 1 763. 


21 


The   French  Prisoners   in   Belfast, 
17594763. 


(  Continued  from  vol.  ix,  page  ij6.  ) 


(   13  ) 


APPENDIX. 


[NUMB.   I.] 

Lieut.  Colonel  Higginson's  LETTER 
to  the  Sovereign,  Burgesses,  and  prin- 
cipal Inhabitants  of  B  E  I.  FA  S  T. 

Gentlemen,  Belfast,  Jan.  ift,  1761. 
TJPON  General  Strode's  leaving  Bel- 
fa  ft,  and  the  command  of  this  Garri- 
fon  devolving  on  me.  I  received  a  complaint 
horn  the  French  Prifoners  of  warconfined  here ; 
fetting  forth  that  they  were  treated  by  Mr. 
Stanton  with  the  greateft  injuftice  and  inhu- 
manity, in  the  articles  of  Provifions,  and  e- 
very  particular,  that  as  their  commiffary,  it 
was  his  duty  to  furnifh  them  with  ;  and  look- 
ing upon  it  as  an  affair,  that  not  only  as  an 
officer,  intrufted  with  the  charge  of  them, 
but  alfo  as  a  chriftian,  it  became  my  imme- 
diate duty  to  take  cognizance  of,  and  to  ufe 
my  utmoft  endeavours  to  get  redreffed.  —  I 
accordingly  made  a  particular  enquiry  into  it 
myfelf,  and  defired  every  officer  under  my 
command  to  do  the  fame  when  on  guard  o- 

vei 


(    14    ) 
ver   them,  and   to  examine    thoroughly  into 
every    particular    grievance    complained    of  ; 
which  they  did,  and  made  me  daily  reports, 
all  agreeing  in  the  following  particulars  viz. 

lit.  The  bread  not  fufficiently  baked,  and 
very  fandy. 

2d.  The  flelh  provifions  moft  intolerably 
bad,  and  tainted  when  delivered  out. 

3d.   The  Small-beer  in  general  bad  and  four. 

4th.  Not  having  a  fupply  of  ftraw  for  thefe 
fix  weeks  pad,  they  now  lye  upon  the  bare 
floor,  except  a  few  who  have  had  beds  deli- 
vered out  to  them,  which  beds  are  intoler- 
ably bad. 

5th.  The  allowance  of  coals  for  four  mef- 
fes  is  barely  fufficient  for  one. 

6th.  No  utenfils  to  eat  oft',  but  a  dirty  tub 
to  each  apartment. 

7th.  The  provifions  are  in  general  deliver- 
ed out  three  hours  too  late. 

This  being  committed  to  writing,  and 
figned  by  my  officers,  I  immediately,  and 
afterwards  daily,  apply'd  to  Mr.  Stanton  for 
redrefs  of  fuch  abufes,  without  effect  :  but 
at  length  I  got  the  articles  of  bread,  beef 
and  beer  put  on  fuch  a  footing  as  has  pre- 
vented any  frequent  complaints  of  late,  ex- 
cept with  regard  to  the  want  of  ftraw,  and 
the  neceflary  article  of  fait  :  which  Mr.  Stan- 
ton for  fome  time  pall  has  neglected  to  fur- 
nifh the   Prifoners  with  :   and    touching  thefe 

particulars, 


HE  following  extracts  relating  to  the  French  landing  at  Carrick- 
fergus  in  1760  are  copied  from  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum 
by  Dr.  John   S.  Crone.     They  give  a  most  detailed  account 

of  the  storming  and  surrender  of  Carrickfergus,  and   the  subsequent 

capture  of  the  French  fleet  by  Captain  Elliott. 

Copy  of  Add.  MSS.  32,902,  F.  364. 

Information  of  Benjamin  Hall,  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  to  my  Regiment,  who  this 
moment  arrived  here  in  his  Parole  from  Carrickfergus  in  Order  to  get  provisions  for  the 
Officers  and  Soldiers  of  my  Regiment  there,  says  that  on  the  21st  Inst:  three  ships  appeared 
off  the  Isle  of  Magee,  standing  in  shore,  for  the  Bay  of  Carrickfergus,  and  at  II  o'clock  came 
to  an  anchor  about  two  miles  and  an  half  to  the  N  E  Pan  of  the  Castle,  and  within  Musquet 
shot  of  the  shore  of  Killrute  Point,  at  this  Time  the  squall  number  of  Troops  belonging  to  the 
Garrison  was  at  e\erci>e  about  Haifa  Mile  on  the  Road  to  Belfast,  and  at  a  Ouarter  after 
II  o'clock  the  Guard  was  tum'd  out  made  up  and  marched  off  to  relieve  that  on  the  French 
prisoners  in  the  Castle,  the  rest  of  the  men  continued  in  the   Field  of  Exercise,  where  an 


THE    FRENCH    PRISONERS    IN    BELFAST,    1759-1763. 


(  15  ) 
particulars,  I  am  forry  to  inform  you,  I  am 
altogether  without  hopes  of  redrefs,  as  I 
have  fo  often  of  late  applied  for  it  in  vain  : 
— So  that  now  the  Prifoners  are  miferable, 
to  a  degree  that  is  fhocking  to  humanity  ; 
and  fo  much  fo  to  mine,  that  1  cannot  longer 
be  a  witnefs  of  their  diftrefs  without  endea- 
vouring to  adminifter  to  their  relief.  At 
prefent  they  are  obliged  to  fell  part  of  the 
provifions  they  receive  to  buy  fait,  for  the 
prefervation  of  the  remainder.  And  by  the 
want  of  It  raw  to  defend  them  from  a  very 
damp  earthen  floor,  they  are  lying,  objects 
of  every  man's  compaffion  but  Mr.  Stanton's. 
I  can  therefore  no  longer  remain  a  witnefs 
of  fuch  mcafures,  without  laying  before  you 
this  reprefentation  of  them,  and  an  eftimate 
of  the  provifions  delivered  to  the  Prifoners 
by  Mr.  Stanton  ;  by  which  it  will  appear  his 
profit  for  victualling  256  men  at  iT|  per  day, 
is  ,£528  7  Ji  per  Annum  :  befides  his  other 
profits,  &c. 

Can  the  town  of  lielfaft  thus  fuffer  a  man 
to  make  a  fortune  at  the  expence  of  fuch  ob- 
jects, and  the  character  which  thefe  Nations 
are  fo  juftly  entitled  to,  for  their  unparalel- 
led  humanity?  I  hope  Gentlemen,  you  will 
not,  and  that  you  will  think  with  me,  that 
fuch  enormous  abufes  are  a  reproach  to  that 
town,  which  (when  known)  allows  them  to 
be  continued And  your  well  known  hu- 
manity 


(  16  ) 
inanity  and  ftrict  attachment  to  juftice,  up- 
on all  occafions,  allure  me  that  your  beft  en- 
deavours, for  the  means  to  put  an  entire  ft  op 
thereto  for  the  future,  and  to  render  the  French 
Prifoners  of  War  here  as  happy  as  the  na- 
ture of  their  circumftances  will  admit  of, 
will  not  be  wanting. 


To  the  Sovereign, 
Burgeffes,  and 
principal  Inha- 
bitants of  the 
Town  of  Bel- 
fast. 


/  am,  Gentlemen, 

Your  mo/t 
obedient  Servant, 

Joseph  Higginson, 

Major  to  Genera/ 


Strode's  Regt. 

We  the  following  Officers  of  General 
Strode  a  Regiment,  having  been  for  a  long 
time  eye  witneffes  of  the  facts  herein  repre- 
fented,— -in  confirmation  thereof,  have  here- 
unto fet  our  hands. 

Tho.  Nash,  lieut. 
Hen.  Harnage,  lieut. 
W11..  Stewart,  lieut. 
W11..  Macdowal,  enf. 
Rob.  Pennington,  enf. 
Geo.  Charlton,  enf. 
Rob.  Savage,  enf. 


A  Re- 


Account  was  soon  brought  that  the  three  ships  just  come  to  an  anchor,  had  taken  and  detained 
two  Fishing-boats,  and  with  them  and  several  others  were  plying  on  and  off  betwixt  the  Shore 
and  the  Ships,  on  which  immediate  Orders  were  sent  to  the  Castle  for  both  Guards  to  continue 
under  Arms  and  double  the  Centries  over  the  French  Prisoners  and  be  particularly  strict  and 
watchfull  over  them,  till  such  Time  as  they  could  be  satisfied  whether  they  were  Friends  or 
Enemies,  tho'  at  the  same  Time  a  strong  Report  prevailed  with  some  that  it  was  an  English 
Frigate  and  two  Store  Ships;  but  to  be  convinced  what  they  were,  after  the  Troops  had 
assembled  in  the  Market-Place,  the  said  Lieut:  Hall  went  off  with  a  reconnoitring  Party,  and 
took  Post  on  a  rising  ground,  where  he  could  plainly  perceive  8  Boats  landing  armed  men, 
and  that  they  drew  out  in  Detachments,  and  took  Post  on  the  Dykes,  Hedges,  and  all  the 
rising  Grounds  from  whence  they  could  have  the  most  extensive  Views  ;  upon  which  he  gave 
the  necessary  orders  to  his  Non-Commissioned  Officers  and  Men  to  have  a  Watchfull  Eye  of 
their  Approaches,  and  to  take  particular  Care  they  did  not  get  round  them  by  going  at  the 
Foot  of  the  Hill  undiscovered,  in  Order  to  prevent  which  he  posted  them  himself,  and  told 
them  as  soon  as  ever  Advanced  Guard  came  within  Shot  to  fire  upon  them,  and  continue  so 
to  do  till  they  repulsed  them  ;  or  if  necessitated  to  retreat,  he  likewise  pointed  that  out  to 
them,  with  Orders  to  take  every  Opportunity,  or  Advantage  of  Ground  in  their  Retreat 
to  Retard  the  Enemy's  Approach,  and  to  be  sure  to  keep  a  Communication  with  the  Town 
as  much  as  possible,  and  on  this  he  immediately  went  to  the  Town  and  acquainted  Lieut: 
Col:  Jennings,  where  he  found  him  with  the  Troops  on  the  Parade,  who  immediately  ordered 
Detachments  to  be  made  to  defend  the  Gates  of  the  Town,  and  all  the  Avenues  leading 
thereto,  so  m  after  which  the  reconnoitring  Party  retired  after  having  spent  all  their  Ammu- 
nition, during  which  Time  the  Lieut:  Col:  and  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Town  sent  off  the 
Sherifl  and  Mr  Mucklewaine  (who  is  Captain  of  the  Militia  of  the  Corporation)  with  Orders 
to  lake  off  the  French  Prisoners  of  War  and  convey  them  with  all  speed  to  Belfast,  where  they 


THE   FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1759-I763. 


(  17  ) 
A  Return  of  Allowance  of  Provifions  deliver- 
ed out  to  the  French  Prifoners  of  War  at 
Belfast,  30M  Decern.  1760. 


One  man's  allow-  \ 
ance  for  one  'lay/ 

One  ditto  for  Friday 

Allowan.  for  a  mefs  \ 
of  8  men  one  day  / 

Ditto  for  8  men  on  ) 
Friday.  / 

One  man's  allow.  \ 
for  7  days,  inclu-  <• 
ding  Friday.  ) 

Allowed  each  man  1 
per  week  for  Peas 

Allowan 
for  7  day- 
ding  Frid 

Allow'd  each  mefs  [ 
p.  week  for  Peas.  I 

\Vm.  Stuart,  lieut 
in  62d  Regmt. 


of  8  men^j 
tys,  inclu-  > 
rid  ay.         J 


32 


U 


or   6 


CT41 


4or   6 


32°r43 


lb. 

12 
12 


lb 


quar 

1 


4i 


8436 


56 


Total 
amount 


£ 


14 


Sergeant- Major  KeiTH'j  Affidavit. 
[NUM.   II.] 

JOHN     KEITH,    Sergeant-Major    to    his 
Majefty's  fixty  fecond  regiment  of  foot, 
commanded  by  Major-General  Strode,  came 
C  this 


(  18  ) 
this  day  before  me,  and  made  oath  ;  That  in 
the  month  of  October  laft  Major-General 
Strode  left  Belfaft,  and  that  thereupon  the 
command  of  the  garrifon  there  devolved  up- 
on lieut.  col.  Higginson,  then  major  to  faid 
regiment  ;  who  having  received  complaint 
from  the  French  Prifoners  of  War,  that  their 
Commiffary,  Mr.  Stanton,  treated  them  in 
every  particular  with  the  greateft  Injuftice 
and  Inhumanity  :  this  deponent  was  ordered 
by  faid  col.  Higginson,  daily  to  vifit  the  a- 
partments  of  faid  Prifoners,  and  to  report  to 
him  their  juft  complaints,  in  order  to  their 
redrefs.  This  deponent  faith,  that  he  accor- 
dingly did  vifit  the  apartments  of  the  faid 
Prifoners,  and  that  their  juft  complaints  con- 
futed in  the  following  particulars,  viz. 

Firft,  That  mr.  Stanton,  from  the  cheap- 
nefs  of  provifions,  fed  each  man  for  three 
pence  three  farthings  per  day,  or  lefs,  when 
his  Majefty  allows  fixpence  per  day  for  the 
fupport  of  each  ;  which,  did  they  receive  in 
cafh,  they  would  thereby  be  enabled  not  on- 
ly to  purchafe  as  much  provifions  as  they  re- 
ceived from  mr.  Stan/on,  but  alfo  Apparel, 
Soap,  Tobacco,  Fuel,  and  other  neceffaries  ; 
by  the  want  of  all  which  they  are  naked, 
nalty,  and  every  way  moft  miferable  ;  and 
to  procure  which,  they  were  obliged  to  make 
fale  of  their  provifions  at  the  greateft  under- 
value. Se- 


were  to  receive  further  Orders  from  me  ;  by  this  Time  the  Enemy  were  on  full  march  for  the 
Town,  which  he  computed  to  be  near  a  thousand  Men,  and  two  or  three  stragling  Hussars 
on  Horses  they  had  picked  up  after  landing,  attempted  to  enter  the  Gates,  but  on  the  first 
Fire  retired,  but  were  soon  supported  by  Parties  of  Foot  who  attacked  both  the  North  and 
Scotch  Gates,  as  also  the  Garden  Walls  of  Lord  Donnegal,  who  were  repulsed  also,  and  kept 
back,  as  long  as  the  Men  had  Ammunition,  on  which  Col:  Jennings  ordered  the  whole  to 
retire  to  the  Castle,  which  he  had  sufficient  Time  to  do,  as  at  this  Time  the  Enemy  was  a  little 
checked  from  our  Fire,  and  would  have  been  more  so,  had  the  Men  had  Ammunition  ;  before 
the  Gates  of  the  Castle  were  shut,  they  made  their  Appearance  in  the  Market  Place,  and  then 
it  was  in  his  Opinion  the  Destruction  of  the  Enemy  would  have  commenced  had  it  not  been 
that  still  (he  begs  leave  again  to  observe)  the  then  dreadfull  Want  of  Ammunition,  notwith- 
standing the  supply  of  Powder  they  had  had  a  few  Days  before  from  Belfast  by  my  Order  but 
was  in  Want  of  Ball  and  even  Time  if  they  had  that  to  make  them  up  ;  From  which  the 
Enemy  finding  our  fire  so  cool,  attacked  the  Gates  Sword  in  Hand,  which  from  the  battering 
of  the  Shot  on  both  sides  the  Bolts  were  knocked  back  and  the  Gates  opened  and  the  Enemy 
marched  in,  but  Lieut:  Col:  Jennings,  Lord  Wallingford,  Capt:  Bland,  Lieut:  Ellis,  with 
some  other  Gentlemen  and  about  50  Men  repulsed  the  Enemy  and  beat  them  back,  here  it 
was  he  saw  great  resolution  in  a  few  Irish  Boys  who  defended  the  Gate  after  it  was  opened 
with  their  Bayonets,  and  those  from  the  Half  Moon,  after  their  Ammunition  was  gone  threw 
Stones  and  Bricks,  had  this  attack  of  the  Enemy  been  supported  with  any  Degree  of  Courage, 
they  must  certainly  have  succeeded  in  it,  but  they  retired  back  under  cover  leaving  the  Gates 
open  with  our  Men  in  the  Front  of  it  which  gave  them  a  short  Time  to  consider  what  was 
best  to  be  done,  first  to  see  the  Mens  Ammunition  which  if  they  had  had  any  would  have 
certainly  sallied,  and  even  so  without  it,  had  not  Col:  Jennings  and  all  the  Officers  thought 
the  Enterprise  too  hazardous,  then  they  considered  if  the  Gate  could  be  defended  the  Breach 


-4 


THE    FRENCH    PRISONERS    IN    BELFAST,    I759-I763. 


(   19  ) 

Secondly,  That  the  Breacl  was  very  lands, 
and  ill  baked. 

Thirdly,  That  the  Beef  was  often  very 
bad,  and  tainted. 

Fourthly,  That  the  Beer  was  very  had, 
weak  and  four. 

Fifthly,  That  by  the  want  of  Straw,  they 
were  obliged  to  lie  upon  the  ground. 

Sixthly,  That  they  were  not  allowed  a 
fulficiency  of  Fuel  to  drefs  their  provifions, 
part  of  which  they  were  obliged  to  fell  to 
procure  it. 

Seventhly,  That  they  had  no  L'tcnfils; 
fuch  as  Platters,  to  eat  their  Victuals  upon, 
but  a  dirty  Tub  to  each  apartment. 

Eighthly,  That  they  had  no  Salt  for  a  con- 
fiderable  time,  by  the  want  of  which  their 
Peel  often  tainted  before  they  could  ufe  it. 

Ninthly,  That  the  fick  in  the  Hofpital 
had  no  Fire  allowed  them,  and  were  put  on 
half  Allowance  when  they  thoiild  have  double 
Allowance. 

Tenthly,  That  the  provifions  were  de- 
livered out  fo  late,  that  they  could  not  drefs 
their  lieef  before  evening. 

Al.L  which  complaints  this  Deponent  knows 
to  be  juft  and  true,  and  particularly  with 
regard  to  the  want  of  the  neceffary  articles 
of  Salt  and  Straw  ;  the  firft  of  which,  this 
Deponent  faith,  they  were  without  for  fifteen 
days  fuccffively;  and  the  laft  for  fix  weeks; 
C  2  at 


(   20  ) 

at  which  time,  in  one  Room  for  feven  men, 
there  was  m>t  two  pounds  weight  of  Straw, 
and  in  many  others  very  little  more :  fo  that 
by  mr.  Stanton's  inhumanity,  and  neglect  of 
them,  they  are  become  to  a  very  great  de- 
gree nafly,  naked,  and  miferable. 

This  deponent  further  depofeth.  that  in 
confequence  of  col.  IIigginson's  orders  to 
him,  he  reported  the  truth  of  the  above  com- 
plaints to  col.  HiooiNSON,  who  thereupon 
ordered  this  deponent  to  apply,  in  his  name, 
to  mr.  Stanton,  to  have  them  redreffed, 
which  he  did  daily,  without  effect  ;  receiv- 
ing for  anfwer  from  mr.  Stanton,  that  he  did 
not  regard  the  complaints  of  the  Prifoners  to 
col.  Hir.r.iNSON  one  farthing;  and  let  them 
complain  as  often  as  they  would,  thev  lhould 
not  be  the  better  for  it  ;  for  that  he  had  done 
them  juftice  by  contracting  with  proper  peo- 
ple to  provide  them  with  good  and  fufficient 
provifions;  and  that  if  they  were  bad  he 
could  not  help  it  :  From  whence  this  depo- 
nent believes  there  muft  be  a  collufion  be- 
tween faid  contractors  and  mr.  Stanton.  And 
this  deponent  faith,  that  with  regard  to  the 
neceffary  articles  of  Salt  and  Straw,  the  faid 
Stanton  refufed  in  the  moft  haughty  and  in- 
human manner,  to  give  either  ;  telling  this 
deponent,  that  he  was  not  obliged  to  furnifh 
the  Prifoners  with  the  former;  and  that  there- 
fore they  fhould  have  no  Salt  from  him  ;  and 


in  the  Castle  Wall  could  not,  it  being  near  50  Feet  long,  and  having  but  short  Time  to 
deliberate,  all  agreed  a  Parly  should  be  beat,  and  Lieut:  Hall  sent  out  to  know  on  what 
Terms  they  might  Surrender,  which  was  accordingly  done,  and  on  his  going  out  found  the 
greatest  Part  of  the  Enemy  under  Shelter  of  the  old  Walls  and  Houses  before  the  Castle 
Gate,  and  after  the  usual  Ceremony  demmded  of  the  Commandant  (the  General  being 
wounded)  what  terms  would  be  given  the  Troops  on  their  Surrender,  and  at  the  same  time 
sent  the  Drum  to  call  Colonel  Jennings  out  of  the  Castle,  in  order  to  treat  with  the  French 
Commandant  on  Articles  of  Capitulation  which  he  says  as  well  as  he  can  remember  were  as 
follows,  viz  ; 

1st— Col:  Jennings  demanded  that  the  Troops  should  march  out  with  all  the  Honours 
of  War,  and  the  Officers  to  be  on  their  Parole  in  Ireland,  and  not  to  be  sent  Prisoners 
to  France,  the  Soldiers  also  to  stay  in  Ireland,  and  that  an  equal  Number  of  French  Prisoners 
should  be  sent  to  France  within  One  Month,  or  as  soon  after  as  Ships  could  be  got  ready  for 
that   Purpose Granted. 

2nd— That  the  Castle  of  Carrickfergus  should  not  be  demolished  or  any  of  the  Stores 
destroyed  or  taken  out  of  it Granted. 

That  the  Town  and  County  of  Carrickfergus  should  not  be  plundered  or  burnt,  on 
Condition  the  Mayor  and  Corporation  furnished  the  French  Troops  with  necessary  Provisions 
Granted. 

This,  as  well  as  he  can  remember  was  the  verbal  articles  agreed  on,  tho'  on  writing  them, 
the  French  Commandant  after  consulting  his  Principal  Officers  declared  he  could  not  by  any 
Means  answer  to  his  Master  the  French  King,  granting  to  His  Britannick  Majesty  the  Stores 
in  the  Castle  which  he  insisted  upon,  and  Col:  Jennings,  to  his  great  grief  had  it  not  in  his 
Power  to  refuse,  declaring  solemnly,  at  the  same  Time,  with  a  Grave  Countenance,  that  he 
had  rather  have  been  buried  in  the  Ruins,  to  which  the  French  Commandant  replied,  that  he 


THE    FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    I/59-I/63. 


(  21  ) 
in  regard  to  Straw,  they  might  put  their 
Buttocks  to  the  ground,  and  be  damned,  for 
it  was  good  enough  for  the  fcoundrels. 
Thefe  feveral  anfwers,  and  others,  haughty, 
(light  and  evafive,  this  deponent  did  at  dif- 
ferent times  receive  from  faid  Stanton,  which 
he  reported  to  col.  Hir.GINSON  ;  who  there- 
upon generally  afterwards  went  to  mr.  Stan- 
ton himfelf,  without  any  effect.  For  this  de- 
ponent declares,  that  the  want  of  Straw  and 
Salt  were  grievances  that  ftill  remained  un- 
redreffed,  till  the  gentlemen  of  Belfaft,  at 
col.  Higginfon's  inftance,  thought  proper  to 
enquire,  and  take  puhlick  notice  of  mr. 
Stanton  9,  treatment  of  the  Prifoners.  Then, 
and  not  till  then,  they  were  compleated  with 
a  proper  allowance  of  Straw,  and  fumifhed 
again  with  an  allowance  of  Salt.  But  this 
deponent  faith,  the  Sick  in  the  hofpital  ftill 
continue  to  get  but  half  allowance. 


John  Keith, 
Sergt.  Major 
to  the  62d 
Regiment. 


Sworn  before  me  in  Belfaft, 
the  $th  Da)'  of  February, 
1761. 


James  Hamilton, 

Sovereign. 


(    22    ) 

To  the  Commissioners  for  fick  and  wounded 
Seamen,  and  for  Exchanging  French  Pri- 
foners of  War. 

[NUM.   III.] 

Gentlemen, 

"\X7E  the  Sovereign,  Burgeffes,  and  prin- 
cipal Inhabitants  of  Belfaft,  deeply 
affected  with  the  prefent  ftate  of  the  French 
Prifoners  of  War,  confined  here,  beg  leave 
to  inclofe  you  a  remonftrance  made  us  in 
their  behalf  by  lieut.  col.  Higginfon,  and 
fuch  of  the  officers  under  his  command,  as 
have  had  the  charge  of  their  prifon. 

That  the  feveral  matters  therein  fet  forth 
are  indifputably  true,  we  are  firmly  per- 
ftiaded  ;  nay,  many  of  us  have  been  eye-wit- 
neffes  to  the  inconceivable  diftrefs  thefe  men 
feel,  from  the  want  of  Apparel,  Tobacco, 
Soap,  Candles,  Salt,  Fuel,  &c.  which  they 
cannot  procure  but  by  the  fale  of  fome  part 
of  their  provifions. 

The  fufferings  of  thefe  unfortunate  men 
call  loudly  for  redrefs,  and  cannot  but  en- 
gage in  their  behalf,  all  thofe  who  have 
hearts  capable  of  feeling  the  mifery  of  o- 
thers,  or  fpirit  to  fupport  that  national  cha- 
racter of  humanity  which  fo  eminently  dif- 
tinguifhes  thefe  countries. 

It 


could  not  insert  it  in  the  Articles  of  Capitulation,  yet  he  would  give  his  Word  and  Honour 
and  did  so,  that  if  there  was  nothing  of  great  Value  in  the  Castle  belonging  to  the  King, 
besides  Powder,  he  would  not  touch  it  (which  there  really  was  not)  but  how  far  he  will  keep 
his  Promise  is  not  yet  known,  likewise  the  Magistrates  of  Carrickfergus  not  furnishing  the 
French  with  necessary  provisions  they  plundered  the  Town  declaring  it  was  their  own  Fault, 
as  they  were  convinced  they  had  it  in  their  Power  to  supply  them  as  they  had  found  enough 
in  the  Town  afterwards. 

Mr  Hall  further  informs  me  that  he  has  discovered  by  some  of  the  French  there  was  a 
Disagreement  betwixt  their  General  and  Capt  Thurot,  the  General  being  for  the  attack  of 
Carrick,  and  Thurot  for  landing  at  the  White  House  and  attacking  Belfast.  He  likewise 
judges  the  Frigates  to  be  one  of  40  Guns,  the  other  two  about  20  each. 

Lieut:  Hall  begs  Leave  to  present  his  Duty  to  Your  Grace  and  hopes  Your  Grace  will 
excuse  any  Inaccuracy  that  may  be  in  his  Description  as  he  was  no  way  provided  with  any 
papers  (but  his  Memory)  and  often  interrupted  by  Numbers  of  Gentlemen  of  the  Militia  who 
was  crouding  perpetually  in  the  Room  to  receive  Orders. 

The  inclosed  just  came  to  Hand  as  I  was  finishing  directed  to  the  Sovereign  of  the  Town. 
I  beg  Leave  to  subscribe  myself, 

My  Lord,  &c, 

Belfast,  Febry  23'1  VVm  Strode. 

1760 

at  6  in  the  Evening. 
[Endorsed]  Belfast  Feb:  23.  1760.   6  o'clock  in  the   Evening.      Information  of  Lieut:   Hall 

of  Gen:   Strode:s  Reg'  Recd  from   M.  G.  Strode  by   Lieut:    Beers.  24"1  in   Mr.  Rigby's 

Of.  Feb!  24th  1760. 

(To  be  continued.) 


26  CRANNOGS,  OR  "ARTIFICIAL   ISLANDS. 


Crannogs,  or  Artificial  Islands, 

in  the  Counties  of  Antrim  and  Derry. 

By  the  late  Right  Rev.  William  Reeves,  Bishop  of  Down 
and  Connor  and  Dromore. 

(Reprint  of  a  Pamphlet  printed  at  the  University  Press,  Dublin,  i860.) 

( Continued  from  vol.  ix,  page  176.) 

SECOND    PAPER. 


T~  HAT  part  of  Ulster  known  in  the  sixteenth  century  as  Brian 
CarragJis  Country  consisted  of  a  tract  on  either  side  of  the 
Bann,  of  which  Portglenone  may  be  taken  as  the  centre. 
The  portion  on  the  Antrim  side  of  the  river,  which  consisted  of  the 
adjacent  part  of  the  parish  of  Ahoghill,  was  held,  by  inheritance, 
under  O'Neill,  of  Clannaboy  ;  while  the  Londonderry  portion,  which 
consisted  of  the  south-east  part  of  Tamlaghtocrilly  parish,  was  wrested 
by  force  of  arms  from  O'Cahan,  and  held  in  adverse  possession.  In 
Marshal  Bagenal's  "Description  of  Ulster,"  1586,  the  territory  is  thus 
noticed  : — "  Brian  Caraghe's  countrey  was  a  portion  of  Xorthe  Clande- 
boy,  won  from  it  by  a  bastard  kinde  of  Scottes,  of  the  septs  of 
Clandonells,  who  entered  the  same,  and  do  yet  holde  it,  being  a  very 
stronge  piece  of  lande  lienge  uppon  the  North  side  of  the  Bande. 
The  name  of  the  nowe  Capten  thereof  is  Brian  Caraghe,1  who  pos- 
sessethe  likewise  another  pece  of  a  countrey  of  Tyron  side  upon  the 
Band,  for  which  he  doth  contribute  to  Onele,  and  for  his  landes  on 
the  North  side  to  them  of  Clandeboye  ;  by  reason  of  the  fastnes  and 
strengthe  of  his  countrey,  havinge  succour  and  frendes  on  each  side 
the  Band,  it  is  very  hard  to  harme  him,  which  maketh  him  so  obstinate 
and  careles  as  he  never  yet  wolde  appeare  before  any  Deputie,  but 
yeldethe  still  what  relife  he  can  to  the  Scottes.  His  force  in  people 
is  very  smale  ;  he  standethe  onelie  upon  the  strength  of  his  countrey, 

1  A  very  interesting  document  from  the  State  Paper  Office  has  been  printed  by  Herbert 
F.  Hore,  in  the  Ulster  Journal  of  Archaeology,  vol.  vii. ,  p.  61.  It  is  a  letter  from  Allister 
McConeill  to  Captain  Piers,  dated  10th  of  December,  1566,  in  which  he  says:   "  als  mony  as  we 

myt  drywe  and  dreaf  ower  ye  Ban  all  ye  carycht  y1  Brean  Karriche  hade and  ane 

innyse  [i.e.,  island,  namely,  Innisrush]  yl  Brean  Karriche  hade  of  befair  and  Oneiles  servand  tuk 
yt,  and  now  we  have  gotten  y*  innys  agane,  and  that  harchips  I  behuffit  to  sla  yame  to  be  meit 
to  my  arme." 


CRANNOGS,  OR  ARTIFICIAL   ISLANDS.  27 

which  in  dede  is  the  fastest  grownde  of  Ireland."1  The  substance  of 
this  statement  is  transferred  by  John  Dymmok  into  his  "  Treatice  of 
Ireland,"  circ.  1600,  who  corrupts  the  chieftain's  name  to  Bryan  Mac 
Carvugh.2  In  his  "  Particuler  of  the  Rebells  Forces,"  April  28,  1599, 
we  find  under  Ulster,  "Shane  mac  Bryan  Carragh,  and  his  cuntry 
joynyng  on  the  Bansyde — 50  foot,  10  horse."3  In  Francis  Jobson's 
Maps  of  Ulster,  preserved  among  the  manuscripts  of  Trinity  College, 
Bryan  Carrogtis  Country  is  laid  down  on  either  side  of  the  Bann,  and 
a  little  south-east  on  the  Antrim  side,  somewhere  in  the  parish  of 
Ahoghill,  Temple  Brian  Carrogh  is  also  marked.4  With  these  agree 
the  engraved  maps  of  Baptista  Boazio,5  Speed,6  Jannson,"  and  Blaeu.8 
John  Norden's  map,  prefixed  to  the  printed  State  Papers  of  Ireland, 
places  Brian  Carogh  only  on  the  county  of  Londonderry  side,  north- 
west of  Forte  Tuom,  now  Toome  Bridge.9  Local  tradition  circum- 
scribes his  territory  still  more,  bounding  it  on  the  north  by  Wolf 
Island  ;  north-west  by  Drumlane  March  ;  on  the  east  by  Tyanee 
Burn  ;  on  the  south-east  by  Cut  of  the  Hill,  near  Bellaghy  ;  and  on 
the  south  by  the  Clady  River. 

This  Brian,  who  bore  the  common  epithet  of  Carrach,  or  "Scabbed,"10 
was  an  O'Neill,  and  great-grandson  of  Domhnall  Donn,  or  "  Donnell 
the  Brown,"  whose  father,  Brian,  was  brother  of  Con,  eldest  son  of 
Hugh  Boy  the  Second,  the  ancestor  of  the  noble  house  of  Shane's 
Castle,  now,  alas  !  extinct  in  the  male  line.  Domhnall  Donn  became 
possessed  of  the  district  on  the  Antrim  side  of  the  Bann,  and  founded 
a  sept  called  the  Cto.nn  "OorhnAill  *Oumn   ti&  Daiu,11    "Descendants 

1  Printed  from  the  original  record  in  the  State  Paper  Office,  dated  December  20,  1586, 
by  Herbert  F.  Hore,  in  the  Ulster  Journal  of  Archirology,  vol.  ii.,  p.  154.  The  county  of 
Antrim  part  of  this  document  had  previously  been  printed,  with  a  few  verbal  inaccuracies,  from  a 
copy  in  Dean  Dobbs'  collection,  by  the  Rev.  John  Dubourdieu,  in  his  "Statistical  Survey  of 
Antrim,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  620. 

2  "  Tracts  relating  to  Ireland,"  vol.  ii. ,  p.  23  (Irish  Archaeological  Soc.  Publications). 
a  Ibid,  p.  29. 

■*  The  second  map  of  Ulster  in  the  Trin.  Coll.  collection  of  Irish  maps  and  charts  is  a  large 
coarsely  coloured  survey  of  Ulster,  on  vellum,  by  Francis  Jobson,  dated  1590.  The  third,  which 
is  smaller,  and  on  paper,  is  also  by  Jobson,  and  marks  Brian  Carrugh  on  both  sides  of  the  Bann. 
Map  4  of  Ulster,  also  by  Jobson,  on  vellum,  places  Brian  Caroth  entirely  on  the  east  side  of  the  river. 

5  This  rudely  executed  and  coloured  map,  which  is  extremely  rare,  was  "  graven  by  Renohle 
Elstrack,"  and  published  in  the  latter  part  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  sold  "in  the  Pope's 
head  alley  by  Mr.  Sudburv."  It  places  Brian  Caroch  on  the  west  side,  but  has  his  name  to  the 
south-east,  lower  down,  near  the  Fevagh. 

6  Speed's  Theatre  ;   the  Province  of  Ulster,  between  pp.  145,  146  (1614). 

7  "  Le  Nouvel  Atlas,  on  Theatre  du  Monde,"  torn.  iv. ,  Irlande,  l>etween  pp.  41,  42  (1647). 
"  Blaeu,  "Geographia  Hiberni;t\"  between  pp.  27,  28  (1654). 

9  With  this  agrees  the  copy  of  Norden's  map  of  Ulster,  on  vellum,  in  the  Trin.  Coll.  collec- 
tion, where  it  is  No.  i  of  Ulster       It  is  of  the  date  1609-1611. 

i"  <\\j\j\ac1i  was  ai  very  common  use.  Thus,  we  find  an  earlier  Brian  Carrach  O'Neill,  in  the 
"  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters"  at  1387;  an  Art  Carrach  at  i486;  a  Neale  Carrach  at  1488; 
a  Rory  Carrach  at  1523.  all  O'Neills.  H.  F.  Hore,  supposing  Carrach  to  be  a  surname,  in  a 
note  on  Brian  Carrach  cites  a  statement  about  Alexander  Carrach  ;  but  he  was  a  Mac  Donnell. 
His  name  appears  in  the  family  pedigree,  and  in  the  "  Four  Masters,"  at  1542,  1577.  This 
Alexander  Carrach  died  in  1631.     See  note  to  O'Donovan's  "  Four  Masters,"  1590  (p.  1895). 

11  Mac  Firbis,  Geneal.  MS.  (Library,  Royal  Irish  Academy),  p.  121  a. 


28  CRANNOGS,   OR   ARTIFICIAL    ISLANDS. 

of  Donnell  Donn  of  the  Bann."  Hence  arose  among  the  English  the 
familiar  appellation  of  Clandonnells,  as  employed  by  Bagenal  and 
Dymmok  in  the  passages  above  cited.  Camden,  however,  erroneously 
supposed  them  to  be  the  same  as  the  Mac  Donnells,  familiarly  called 
M'Connells  ;  and,  speaking  of  the  Earl  of  Essex's  failure  in  reducing 
Ulster,  he  adds,  that  he  "  left  this  country  to  the  O'Neals,  and  Brian 
Carragh  of  the  family  of  the  MacConnells,  who  have  since  cut  one 
another's  throats  in  their  disputes  for  sovereignty."1  The  name 
Clandonnell,  no  doubt,  was  often  applied  to  the  Mac  Donnells,2 
especially  O'Neill's  gallowglasses,  but  in  the  present  instance  it  was 
borrowed  from  Donnell  Donn  O'Neill. 

The  epithet,  "  a  bastard  kind  of  Scotts,"  is,  probably,  derived  from 
a  mistaken  notion  that  Brian  Carrach's  men  were  Mac  Donnells  ;  or  it 
may  have  reference  to  Scotch  mercenaries  employed  by  the  chief  of 
the  district,  who  settled  and  intermarried  therein.  In  confirmation 
of  this  view,  there  is  the  local  tradition  that  the  Mac  Erleans,  who 
abound  in  the  district,  were  a  Scotch  clan,  whose  name  was  originally 
Mac  Clean,3  and  that  they  were  invited  over  from  the  west  coast  of 
Argyle  and  planted  here  by  Brian  Carrach,  where  they  became  his 
best  supporters  against  O'Cahan. 

Brian  Carrach  flourished  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,4 
and  died  about  1586.  A  son  of  his  was  slain,  according  to  the  Four 
Masters,  in  1577.  Another  son,  Shane  Boy,  who  was  captain  of  the 
district  in  1 599,  is  the  last  of  that  line  noticed  in  Mac  Pubis's 
Genealogy  of  the  O'Neills,  but  the  old  family  pedigree,  copies  of 
which  belonging  to  the  families  of  Shanescastle  and  Bannvale,  have 
been  examined  by  me,  gives  another  generation  in  Cromac,  son  of 
Shane  Boy.  Anne,  daughter  of  Brian  Carrach,  was  second  wife 
of  Shane  O'Neill,  of  Shanescastle,0  son  of  the  Brian  O'Neill  whom 
the  Earl  of  Essex  caused  to  be  apprehended   near  Carrickfergus  in 

1574-° 

The  following  Table,  commencing  with  the  founder  of  the  noble 
house  of  Clannaboy,  shows  the  collateral  descent  of  the  Edenduff- 
carrick  and  Bann-side  lines. 

1  Britannia,  vol.  iv. ,  p.  431.     (Gibson's  translation,  ed.  Gough,  London.) 

a  See  Miscellany  of  the  Celtic  Society,  p.  192  ;   Iar  Connacht,  p.  331. 

a  That  is  Mar.  Gil/a  F.oin.     Sec  "  Four  Masters,"  at  1523,  1559,  1577. 

■•The  learned  editor  of  the  "  Four  Masters"  makes  a  slight  mistake  in  identifying  Brian 
Carrach  of  1387  (p.  709)  with  the  present  individual  noticed  at  1577  (p.  1692). 

3  O'Neill  Pedigree. 

u  Camden,  Annales  Flizabethre,  anno  1573  (p.  246,  ed.  1615).  Devereux's  Lives  and  Letters 
of  the  Earls  of  Lssex,  vol.  i.,  pp.  19,  34,  37-39,  66,  69,  89,  90.  O'Donovan's  "  Four  Masters,' 
1573  IP-  1664),  1574  (p.  1676I. 


CRANNOGS,   OR    ARTIFICIAL   ISLANDS.  29 

AEDH   BUIDHE,  or  HUGH  BOV  I. 

Appears  in  the  "Four  Mast."  at  1259,  1260,  1261, 
1262,  1281.     Slain  in  1283. 

I 

Brian  O'Neill. 

Inaugurated  1291  ;  slain  1295. 

I 
Henry  O'Neill. 

MuiRCERTACH    CeNNLADA    O'NEILL. 

I 

Brian  Ballagh  O'Neill. 
His  sons  adults  in  1426. 

I 

Aodh  Buide,  Hugh  Boy  II.,  O'Neill. 
Slain  May  2,  1444. 


Con  O'Neill.  Brian  O'Neill. 

Flor.  1465,  146S,  147 1,  1472,  Died  of  small-pox,  1488. 
1475.  l4&1  ;  oh.   1482. 

I 

Niai.l  Mok  O'Neill.  Domhnall  Donn. 

Ob.  April    11,    1512.  Founder  of  Claim  Domh- 

naill  Duinn  na  Bana. 

Fiielim  Bacach  O'Neill.  Shane  Dubh  O'Neill. 

I  I 

Brian  O'Neill.  Cokmac  O'Neill. 
Flor.   1573,   apprehended 
by  Earl  of  Essex,  1574. 

John  O'Neill   -   Anne,  d.  of  Brian  Brian  Carrach  O'Neill 

Flor.  15S6;  ob.  1617.           Carrach.  Ob.  circ.   1586. 

•     I  i 


Phelim  Dubh  O'Neill.  Shane  Boy  Anne. 

Ob.   1677.  "The    son    of  Brian         O'Neill.  Second  wife 

Carrach.     son    of  Corb-     Alive  in    1599.  of  Tohn 

Brian  O'Neill.  mac,    was   slain    by    the  |  O'Neill  of 

Ob.   1669.  army   of   O'Neill,  1577''  Cormac.  Shane's 

(Four  Mast.).  Castle. 

John  O'Neill. 
Ob.  1738. 

Charlks  O'Neill. 

Ob.  1769. 

I 

Tohn  O'Neill. 

First  Vis.  O'Neill ;  killed  1798. 


Charles  Henry  St.  Iohn.         John  Richard  Bruce. 

Earl  O'Neill.    Ob.  Mar.  25,  Third    Viscount  O'Neill. 

1841.  jet.  62.  Ob.  Feb.  12,  1855,  jet.  74. 

The  place  which  is  traditionally  pointed  out  as  the  site  of  Brian's 
abode  is  a  small  island,  in  the  middle  of  a  marshy  basin  at  Inisrush, 
called  the  Green  Lough.1     This  spot  was  really  the  1m|-  |uii|\  "  Island 

1  As  distinguished  from  the  larger  sheet  of  water  called  the  Black  Lough,  which  lies  a  little  to 
the  north-west,  but  which  has  no  island. — Ordnance  Survey  of  Derry,  sheet  33. 

In  the  fourth  Ulster  map  in  the  Trin.  Coll.  collection,  Brian  Caroth  is  placed  on  the  Antrim 
side ;  but  on  the  Derry  side  of  his  territory,  south  of  the  Slut  Donogh,  is  the  mark  of  a  very  small 
lake,  with  a  diminutive  island,  no  doubt  intended  for  the  one  in  question.  Speed,  Jamison,  and 
Hlaeu  mark  the  Clady  River,  which  they  call  the  Skinnefl.,  and  on  the  north  side  of  it  they 
correctly  place  the  little  lake  with  its  island,  which  they  call  Lo.  Rush. 


3<D  CRANNOGS,   OR   ARTIFICIAL   ISLANDS. 

of  the  Wood";  and  though  it  has  long  since  ceased  to  bear  this 
name  par  excellence,  it  comes  in  for  a  share  as  part  of  the  townland  of 
Inishrush,  as  adjacent  to  the  hamlet  so  called,  and  as  included  in  the 
Perpetual  Cure  of  Inisrush.  And  the  reason  why  this  inconsiderable 
speck  gave  name  to  the  surrounding  district,  was  its  importance  in 
the  sixteenth  century  as  the  seat  of  the  chieftain's  fortress  ;  just  as 
Inir-  Ua  ploinn,  the  now  obliterated  crannog  near  Desertmartin,  gave 
the  name  of  loch  \x\\\  Ua  phloinn,  first,  to  the  small  lake  it  existed 
on,  and  then,  in  the  form  of  Lougkinskolin,  to  one  of  the  largest 
baronies  in  Ulster.1 

The  Green  Lough  was  drained  some  years  ago  by  the  father  of 
Hugh  MacLoughlin,  the  present  tenant.  Previously  to  that  it  was  a 
sheet  of  water,  about  half  a  mile  in  circumference,  and  used  to  receive 
the  surplus  water  of  the  Black  Lough  ;  but,  by  means  of  a  deep  cut, 
its  contents  were  carried  into  the  Clady  River,  and  it  was  completely 
drained.  About  the  middle,  in  the  position  shown  on  the  Ordnance 
map,  was  a  circular  eminence  artificially  formed  of  clay  and  gravel, 
the  edge  of  which  sloped  down  to  the  water.  Inside  this  marginal 
embankment  was  a  circle  of  oak  piles,  most  of  which  still  remain, 
about  seven  perches  in  circumference.  In  the  upper  ends  were 
mortised  horizontal  beams  of  oak,  and  upon  this  framework,  as  a 
foundation,  rested  a  wooden  house,  which  was  securely  connected 
with  the  supporting  timbers.  Such  was  the  edifice  which  tradition 
describes  as  the  residence  of  Brian  Carrach  O'Neill.  The  approach 
was  from  the  western  margin  of  the  lough,  where  an  artificial  cause- 
way was  formed,  which  came  within  a  short  distance  of  the  island. 
I  expected  to  hear  of  many  articles  of  antiquity  being  found  during 
the  process  of  draining,  but  the  only  one  which  was  remembered  was 
a  piece  of  iron  chain-mail.  At  present,  owing  to  neglect  of  the  drain, 
the  basin  containing  the  island  has  been  to  some  extent  again  sub- 
merged, so  that,  on  the  18th  of  October  last,  an  effort  which  I  made 
to  reach  the  island  failed,  as  I  sank  above  the  knees  before  I  had 
taken  many  steps.  However,  the  island,  though  considerably  impaired 
in  outline,  still  remains  prominent  and  green,  and  produces  a  cock  of 
hay  every  year.  The  apple-trees  which  are  growing  on  the  top  were 
planted  there  a  few  years  ago. 

The  road  to  Tamlaght  skirts  the  Green  Lough  on  the  south,  and 
on  the  other  side  of  it  rises  one  of  the  eskirs  which  abound  in  the 
parish.     The  highest  part  of  this  is  called  the  Gallows  Hill,  and  the 

1  See  my  communication  in  the  proceedings,  p.  359,  supra. 


CRANNOGS,   OR   ARTIFICIAL   ISLANDS.  3  I 

marks  of  three  graves  are  shown  near  the  spot  where  the  gallows 
stood.  They  are  said  to  contain  the  remains  of  three  warriors  slain 
by  Brian  Carrach.  Living,  as  this  chieftain  did,  in  a  district  which 
was  wrested  from  a  rival  tribe,  his  life  was  naturally  marked  by 
vigilance,  and  his  acts  by  decision  and  severity.  The  inaccessible 
nature  of  his  territory  enabled  him  to  bid  defiance  to  the  English,  but 
the  emissaries  of  the  O'Cahans  were  ever  ready  to  take  advantage  of 
his  difficulties  ;  and  tradition  says  that  the  two  sons  whom  he  left 
were  assassinated  by  the  Logans  and  Mac  Shanes  at  a  christening 
party  near  Skeg-na-holiagh.  Certainly  the  stories  which  are  told  of 
him  do  not  impress  the  mind  with  a  notion  of  his  gentleness.  The 
following,  which  was  related  to  Dr.  O'Donovan,  when  in  this  part  of 
the  country  in  1834,  and  was  communicated  by  him  to  the  Ordnance 
Survey  Office,1  presents  a  fair  specimen  of  the  local  estimate  for 
this  chief's  memory  : — "  Many  stories  are  related  of  Brian  Carrach 
O'Neill,  who  encroached  upon  O'Kane,  and  possessed  the  south-east 
portion  of  the  county.  Brian  would  never  hang  one  man  alone,  and 
if  he  found  a  man  guilty  of  swinging  by  his  law,  he  would  give  him  a 
long  day,  until  he  could  find  another  to  dance  along  with  him.  One 
time  he  found  a  man  guilty,  and  a  long  time  passed  over  but  no  com- 
panion could  be  found  for  him.  At  last  a  stranger  came  to  visit  the 
friars  of  a  monastery  within  the  territory,  and  Brian,  riding  out  one 
day,  viewed  him,  and  they  allow  that  he  sent  word  to  the  abbot, 
requesting  of  him  to  lend  him  that  man,  and  that  he  would  send  him 
one  in  return  as  soon  as  possible.  The  abbot,  fearing  to  disobey,  sent 
him  the  man,  and  Brian  caused  him  to  be  hanged  along  with  the 
convict.  Soon  after  this,  he  found  two  others  guilty,  one  of  whom 
attracted  his  notice  as  being  remarkably  comely.  Brian  spoke  to 
him,  saying,  '  I  shall  forgive  you  if  you  will  marry  a  daughter  that  I 
have.'  '  Let's  see  her,'  says  the  convict.  Brian  sends  for  the  daughter  ; 
but  as  soon  as  the  comely  youth  beheld  her,  he  cried  out,  Sik\j^  tiom, 
pu\r-  tiom  :  'Up  with  me,  up  with  me.'  'By  the  powers,'  says  Brian, 
'  I  will  not  up  with  you,  but  she  must  go  up.'  Upon  which  he  hanged 
his  own  daughter  for  her  ugliness,  and  gave  the  comely  youth  up  to 
the  abbot,  in  payment  of  the  man  he  had  borrowed  from  him  to  make 
up  the  even  number."2 

The  monastery  above  mentioned  was,  probably,  the  small  friary 

1  Derry  Letters,  dated  Newtownlimavady,  August  16,  1834. 

2  A  story  very  similar  is  recorded  by  Dr.  Fitzgerald,  in  Mason's  "Parochial  Survev "  of 
Henry  Avrey  O'Neill,  whose  castle  was  in  the  parish  of  Ardstraw. — Vol.  i. ,  p.  116.  The  Ardstraw 
youth  said,  Cur  suas  me,  cur  suas  me. 


32  JOSIAH    WELSH. 

which  tradition  reports  to  have  existed  in   the  little  village  of  Tam- 

laght,  about  two  miles  distant,  on  the  north-west. 

(The  End.) 

[W.  J.  Knowles,  m.k.i.a.,  will  contribute  some  further  notes  on  these  crannogs,  bring- 
ing down  their  condition  to  the  present  time,  several  of  them  having  been  investigated  in 
recent  years. — Ed.] 


Josiah  Welsh, 

Minister  of  Templepatrick,  County  Antrim. 

IN    the   book    mentioned    in    volume    ix,    page    15S,    there    is   a 
reference   to   the   above  minister,  whose  grave  is  in   the  old 
churchyard    at    Templepatrick.        He    died    23     June,    1634. 
Upon  a  heavy  flat  slab  the  following  inscription  is  cut: 

Here  lies  interred  under  this  stone 

Great  Knoxes  grandchild  John  Welsh's  son 

Born  in  Scotland  and  bred  up  in  Erance 

He  then  came  to  Ireland  the  Gospel  to  advance. 

The  following  is  the  quotation  referred  to  : 

"He  married  Elizabeth  Knox  Daughter  to  the  famous  Master 
John  Knox,  Minister  at  Edinburgh,  the  Apostle  of  Scotland,  and  she 
lived  with  him  from  his  Youth  till  his  Death.  By  her  I  have  heard  he 
had  Three  Sons  ;  The  first  was  called  Doctor  Welsh  a  Doctor  of 
Medicine,  who  was  unhappily  killed  upon  an  innocent  Mistake  in  the 
Low  Countries,  and  of  him  I  never  heard  more.  Another  Son  he  had 
most  lamentably  lost  at  Sea,  for  when  the  ship  in  which  he  was,  was 
sunk,  he  swam  to  a  Rock  in  the  sea,  but  starved  there  for  Want  of 
Necessary  Eood  and  Refreshment,  and  when  sometime  afterward  his 
Body  was  found  upon  the  Rock,  they  found  him  Dead  in  a  praying 
posture  upon  his  bended  Knees,  with  his  Hands  stretched  out,  and 
this  was  all  the  satisfaction  his  Friends  and  the  World  had  upon  his 
Lamentable  Death,  so  bitter  to  his  Friends.  Another  son  he  had  who 
was  Heir  to  his  Fathers  Graces  and  Blessings,  and  this  was  Mr.  Josias 
Welsh  Minister  at  Temple-patrick  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  commonly 
called  '  the  Cock  of  the  Conscience '  by  the  people  of  the  Country, 
because  of  his  extraordinary  Wakening  and  Rousing  Gift.  He  was 
one  of  that  blest  Society  of  Ministers,  which  wrought  that  unparallelled 
Work  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  about  the  Year  1636.  But  himself  was 
a  Man  most  sadly  exercised  with  Doubts  about  his  own  Salvation  all 
his  Time,  and  would  ordinarly  say,  That  Minister  was  much  to  be  pitied, 
who  was  called  to  comfort  weak  Saints  and  had  no  Comfort  himself. 
He  died  in  his  Youth,  and  left  for  his  Successor  Mr.  John  Welsh,  Minis- 
ter at  Iron-gray  in  Galloway,  the  Place  of  his  Grand  Fathers  Nativity." 


ANTRIM. 


33 


Antrim* 

By  John  Stevenson, 

Author  of  "  Pat  McCarty  :  his  Rhymes." 


Up  !  rouse  ye  !  sleepy  muse  of  mine  : 
Why  is  our  Antrim  still  unsung, 
When  other  lands  not  half  so  fine 
Have  had  their  poorer  praises  rung? 
Is  she,  the  City  of  the  Ford,1 
(May  never  aught  her  fame  eclipse), 
Too  busy  spinning,  building  ships, 
To  say  in  praise  of  thee  a  word  ? 

Thine  are  the  grander  forms  earth-borne, — 
The  land  flood-channell'd,  earthquake-torn  ; 
The  sea-wet  border,  lonely  glen, 
Mountain  and  moorland,  bog  and  fen, 
And  cliff  by  storms  of  ages  worn. 

Where,  fairer  than  with  thee,  appear 
The  changing  glories  of  the  year  : — 
The  sunlit  morn  of  Spring  sweet-gal'd, 
The  April  hedge  in  emerald  veil'd, 
The  wind-wav'd  grass  and  corn  in  ear  ? 

No  need  have  I  of  hill  to  climb 

To  find  fit  subject  for  my  rhyme  : 

Imagination  sallies  forth, 

Looks  o'er  the  land  from  south  to  north, 

And  backward  thro'  the  mists  of  time. 

When  Prelacy  plac'd  under  ban 

All  ways  save  hers  'twixt  God  and  man, 

And  scourg'd  with  unrelenting  rod, 

The  godly,  for  the  love  of  God, 

On  Scotia's  sward  the  life-blood  ran. 

From  thee,  O  wounded  Scotland,  then, 
Our  fathers  came,  great-hearted  men. 
Denied  the  right,  as  reprobates, 
To  praise  God  under  thatch  or  slates, 
They  prais'd  Him  in  the  open  glen. 


Oft  tasted  they  on  moors  of  thine 
Their  Lord's  memorial  bread  and  wine, 
And  sang  with  hearts  made  strong  and  calm, 
The  rocky  mountain-side  the  shrine 
That  echo'd  to  the  holy  psalm. 

I  climb  in  thought  the  Hill  of  Caves,2 
Afar  to  eastward  o'er  the  flood, 
I  see  long  galleys  ride  the  waves  ; 
I  hear  the  songs  of  Danish  braves, 
Eager  to  quench  a  thirst  for  blood. 

On  Fergus'  rock  I  see  arise 

De  Courcy's  keep,3  that  Time  defies  ; 

I  hear  the  hammer-clink  on  stones, 

That  shape  its  dungeons, — hear  the  groans 

Of  captives  in  their  agonies. 

Again  I  see  it,  old  and  grey, 
Two  hundred  ships  are  in  the  bay, 
And  William's4  standard  on  the  wall 
That  breaks  before  the  cannon  ball 
Of   Thurot5  on  a  later  day. 

By  Olderfleet6  from  Scotland  came 
Bruce  and  six  thousand  men,  with  aim 
The  sword  in  English  blood  to  wet  : 
And  old  Rathmore  remembers  yet 
The  redden'd  soil,  the  smoke  and  flame. 

Sea-like  in  grandeur,  calm  and  grey, 
To  westward  dully  gleams  Lough  Neagh 
And  Antrim's  tower,7  lone  and  tall, 
And  Shane's  old  home,8  I  see  them  all 
As  in  the  old  time  and  to-day. 

Then  o'er  the  water,  weird  and  low, 
There  comes  a  wind-borne  cry  of  woe 
From  Cavan  far  ;  where  Ulster's  head  — 
The  brave,  the  great  O'Neil  —  lies  dead  : 
I  hear  the  keen9  for  Owen  Roe.10 


1  Belfast :  Bel,  a  ford,  an  entrance  ;  feirsde,  a  sandbank. 

2  Ben  Madighan,  overlooking  Belfast — now  called  Cave  Hill  (1,188  feet)   -with  bold  precipitous 
cliffs,  and  crowned  by  the  great  prehistoric  fort  of  MacArt. 

3  Carrickfergus  Castle,  on  Belfast  Lough,  built  by  John  de  Courcv  in  1177. 

4  William  III.  landed  here. 

5  The  castle  was  taken  by  the  French  under  Thurot  in  1760. 

6  Now  Larne.      Here  Edward  Bruce  landed  in  1316. 

7  One  of  the  most  perfect  of  the  ancient  Irish  round  towers  is  near  the  town  of  Antrim. 

8  Shane's  Castle. 

9  The  Irish  wail  for  the  dead. 

10  Eoghan  Ruadh  (anglicized  Owen  Roe)  O'Xeil  died,  from  poison  it  is  said,  10  November,  1649. 


34 


ANTRIM. 


Slemish!1   what  memories  are  thine  ! 
Of  slave  hoy     ragged,  hungry,  faint  — 

Who  on  thy  iock\  scams  did  pine, 
The  barefoot  laddie  herding  swine. 
Now  call'd  our  Ireland's  patron  saint. 

Time  oidy  is  the  husbandman 
That  ploughs  where  lonely  Lurig'than, 
Where  Trostan  and  Sliev'norra2  rise  : 
Old  hills  whose  hours  are  centuries, 
And  days  a  nation's  living  span. 

What  think  they  of  earth's  man-made  scars  ; 
Man's  small  activities, — his  wars  — 
The  pride,      the  claims  extravagant 
Of  him, —a  larger  kind  of  ant  ! 
They  having  kinship  w  ith  the  stars. 

Eastward  the  bold  white  cliffs  appear  : 
Fairer  or  not  than  all  the  rest, 
This  is  the  Antrim  lov'd  the  best. 
Whether  the  leaf  be  green  or  sere, 
Thought  never  sees  a  winter  here. 

Always  the  wind  blows  fresh  and  free 
Over  a  sunlit  dancing  sea  ; 
Always  the  lark's  alluring  tongue 
Tells  from  the  clouds  the  year  is  young. 

Lonely,  deserted  church  of  Layde,:i 
How  many  weary  ones  have  made 
Their  beds  beside  thee  and  the  sea  ! 
How  many  stricken  souls  have  pray'd 
And  agoniz'd  to  God  from  thee  ! 

By  Cushendun  the  strife  is  loud — 

The  Scots  have  murder'd  Shane  the  Proud  ! 

I  see  the  grave  dug  by  his  kin, 

The  headless  body  laid  therein — 

A  poor  man's  ragged  garb  its  shroud.4 


Sorrow  and  strife  be  far  away 
From  these  sweet  vales  and  hills  for  aye  ! 
()  who  would  think  of  sword  and  death 
Who  feels  the  living  sea's  sweet  breath 
Blow  thro'  the  nine  green  glens5  to-day  ! 

Who  sees  the  blue  smoke  skyward-curl'd 
From  many  a  lowly  glen  hearth-stone, 
Each  with  a  laughter  and  a  groan, 
A  pathos  and  romance  its  own  ; 
Each  little  house  a  little  world  ! 

Who  that  can  hear  the  voice  of  morn, 
The  whisper  of  the  springing  corn, 
Who  understands  the  babbling  rills, 
The  weird  wild  music  of  the  hills, 
And  nameless  voices  heaven-born  ! 

Sure  am  I  that  the  Antrim  glen 
Holds  mysteries  beyond  our  ken, 
And  that  there  moves  in  wind  and  sea, 
And  rock  and  stream,  and  weed  and  tree, 
A  life  not  far  from  life  of  men. 

Dear  Mother  Earth,  I  know  within 
That  leaf  and  I  are  next  of  kin — 
The  rowan  high  by  blood  is  near, 
The  primrose  is  a  sister  dear, 
Brother  of  mine  the  mountain  whin. 

Now  on  the  ocean  shore  I  stand, 
The  sea-worn  cliff  on  either  hand, 
And  farther  north  no  other  land  ; 
Only  the  long  sea-heave  and  roll 
Between  me  ami  the  Arctic  pole. 

Near  where  Knock-laydB  the  tempest  braves, 
And  Rathlin  battles  with  the  waves, 
I  see  the  evening  shadow  fall 
Of  Bun-na-Margie's  ruin'd  wall" 
On  Bun-na-Margie's  quiet  graves. 


1  Slieve  Mis,  an  isolated  rocky  hill  near  Ballymena,  on  which  S  Patrick,  as  a  slave-boy, 
herded  swine  Cor  Milcho. 

2  Mountains  near  Cushendall.     Trostan  is  the  highest  of  the  Antrim  mountains. 

3  An  ancient  Franciscan  abbey  ;  then  the  old  parish  church  and  burying-place  of  Cushendall. 

4  The  celebrated  Shane  O'Neil  unwisely  trusted  his  ancient  enemies,  the  Scots,  at  a  banquet 
at  Cushendun  in  1567.  Shane  and  his  attendants  were  slain,  and  the  headless  body  of  the 
great  chieftain  was  wrapped  in  a  peasant's  shirt  and  thrown  mto  a  pit.  The  head  was  taken  to 
Dublin,  and  spiked  on  the  Castle. 

5  The  nine  glens  of  Antrim  are  Glentow,  Glenshesk,  Glendun,  Glencorp,  Glenaan,  Glen- 
ballyemon,  GlenarirT,  Glencloy,  Glenarm. 

6  A  hill  near  I'.allvcastle. 

7  The  ruins  of  Bun-na-Margie  occupy  a  glorious  site  close  to  the  sea-shore  at  Ballycastle. 
The  monastery  is  said  to  have  been  founded  A.n.  t202  by  Walter  de  Burgo. 


ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D. 


35 


Keep,  countrymen,  his  mem'ry  green  ! 
Here  sleeps  old  Antrim's  worthy  son, 
As  brave  as  e'er  the  soil  has  seen, 
Who  scorn'd  to  hold  what  sword  had  won 
By  sheepskin  from  the  English  queen.1 

I  see  the  Giant's  pillar'd  way  ;- 
I  see  Dunluce  of  ancient  day — 
Dunluce  that  saw  Armada  break.3 
The  old  Clan  Donnell  heroes  wake, 
And  Dalriada4  own's  their  sway. 


Hail,  Pleaskin,  northern  sentinel  ! 
Old  Pleaskin,  where  the  sea-birds  dwell  ! 
What  ages,  hoary  grown,  have  past 
Since  first  ye  felt  the  northern  blast 
And  salt  lick  of  the  ocean  swell. 

Here  let  my  muse  lay  down  her  pen  ; 
Her  wanderings  by  hill  and  glen 
And  stream  and  lake  and  shore  adjourn. 
Would  that  her  words  were  words  to  burn 
Would  that  her  words  had  pow'r  to  turn 
To  this  lov'd  land  the  hearts  of  men  ! 


Robert  Vicars  Dixon,  D*D, 

(Archdeacon  of  Armagh), 

and  the   Parish  of  Cloghernie. 

By  the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Belmore,  g.c.m.g. 


1  FIRST  became  acquainted,  I  think,  with  my  friend,  the  late 
Archdeacon  Dixon,  Ex.  F.T.C.D.,  in  or  about  1856.  He  had 
then  held  the  parish  of  Cloghernie  for  about  three  years  ;  and 
was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Tyrone.  His  parish,  in  the  diocese  of 
Armagh,  had,  until  1733,  formed  part  of  the  old  parish  of  Termon- 
maguirk,  in  "  the  Two  Fues  and  Ballintackin"  between  Omagh  and 
Dungannon.  In  1733  it  had  been  divided  in  the  way  which  I  shall 
describe  further  on  ;  and  the  advowson  was  also  divided  between  the 
Viscount  Tyrone,  ancestor  of  the  Marquis  of  Waterford,  and  Robert 
Lowry  of  Melberry,  near  Caledon,  the  two  principal  landlords  in  the 
parish  :  one  as  the  descendant  of  Nichola  Sophia,  Lady  Beresford, 
the  younger  sister  of  Lord  Hamilton  of  Glenawley,  who  died  under 
age  and  unmarried  in  1680  ;  the  other  as  the  son  and  heir  of  the 
assignee  of  her  elder  sister,  Arabella  Susanna,   Lady  Dungannon — 

1  Sorley  Boy  MaeDonnell  burned  in  his  castle  yard  of  Dunanannie,  on  the  point  of  his  sword, 
the  grant  of  his  lands  which  Queen  Elizabeth  had  bestowed  upon  him,  saying  that  what  he  had 
won  by  the  sword  he  would  not  hold  by  parchment. 

2  The  Giant's  Causeway. 

3  At  least  two  ships  of  the  Great  Armada— one  of  them  the  "  Gerona  '— were  wrecked  near 
Dunluce  in  1588. 

4  The  old  Clan  Donnell  territory,  represented  by  the  northern  half  of  the  present  County 
Antrim. 


36  ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D. 

Robert  Lowry  of  Aghcnis,  also  near  Caledon.  These  ladies  and  their 
successors  were  entitled  to  present  alternately  ;  but  on  the  division 
of  the  parish,  this  arrangement,  of  course,  came  to  an  end.  Lord 
Waterford's  family  continued  to  present  to  Termonmaguirk  until  Dis- 
establishment. Robert  Lowry  and  the  first  Lord  Belmore,  his  nephew, 
presented  three  times,  in  each  case  nominating  a  Lowry — grandfather, 
father,  and  son.  The  former,  however,  exchanged  with  Dr.  Dobbs  in 
1745  for  Tullaghog,  or  Dcsertcreat,  where  he  owned  lands  ;  whilst  the 
second  resigned  in  favour  of  his  own  son,  after  holding  the  parish  for 
about  19  years. 

In  1828  the  second  Lord  Belmore,  whose  estates  at  that  time  were 
much  encumbered,  sold  the  advowson  for  .£14,000  to  Trinity  College, 
Dublin.  The  living  was  reckoned  to  be  the  most  valuable  in  Ireland, 
and  it  had  one  of  the  largest  glebe  houses,  besides  glebe  lands,  which 
formed  a  tolerably  extensive  estate.  The  College  made  rather  a  bad 
bargain  by  this  purchase,  as  the  Rev.  James  Lowry,  who  had  already 
been  some  35  years  rector  and  vicar,  survived  for  another  quarter 
of  a  century  or  so;  whilst  Archdeacon  Dixon,  in  his  turn,  held  the 
parish  for  32  years,  surviving  "  Establishment."  The  College,  how- 
ever, received  £1 1,701  2s.  Sd.  compensation  under  the  Irish  Church 
Act  (vide  Report  of  the  Dublin  University  Commission,  i8j8,  p.  91, 
of  which  I  was  Chairman). 

Robert  Dixon  was  born  in  181 1,  probably  in  Dublin,  as  his  fore- 
fathers were  merchants  and  freemen  of  that  city.1  He  was  at  first 
educated  at  the  Rev.  T.  Hextdart's  school.  He  proceeded  in  due 
course  to  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  where  he  was  not  a  scholar.  He  took 
his  B.A.  degree  Verti  1833.  He  obtained  a  fellowship  at  first  sitting 
for  one,  in  1S38.  It  is  supposed  by  his  daughter — who  thinks  that 
there  were  then  no  lay  fellows'2 — that  he  must  have  been  ordained  in 
the  same  year.  He  became  Professor,  on  Erasmus  Smith's  endow- 
ment, of  Natural  and  Experimental  Philosophy  ;  and  was  the  author 
of  a  treatise  on  Heat.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Maclean  of 
St.  Stephen's  Green,  Dublin,  by  whom  he  has  had  three  children  ; 
viz.,  H.  M.  Dixon,  Superintending  Clerk  in  the  Admiralty  ;  C.  H. 
Dixon,  late  Surgeon  in  the  R.A.M.C,  deceased  (I  believe,  in  Egypt)  ; 
and  one  daughter,  K.  E.  G.  Dixon,  now  the  wife  of  Colonel  Montagu 
Browne,  of  Mullaghmore  House,  near  Omagh.  He  proceeded  to 
M.A.   in   Vern,   1839,  and   B.D.  and   D.D.  in  Htem,  1862.     Dr.  Dixon 

1  Information  penes  his  daughter. 

2  Excepting,  of  course,  one  in  law  and  one  in  medicine. 


ROBERT  VICARS  DIXON,  D.D.  37 

had  a  great  knowledge  of  the  folk-lore  of  the  district  in  which  his  lot 
was  cast  in  Tyrone.  He  became  a  magistrate  for  the  county  ;  and 
I  have  heard  he  was  always  ready  in  his  earlier  days  to  lend  a  hand  to 
anyone  whom  he  saw,  in  his  progress  through  the  parish,  in  need  of 
one,  to  load  a  cart  at  hay  or  harvest  time.  I  did  not  see  much  of  him 
during  the  earlier  part — the  first  nineteen  years  or  so — of  his  career 
in  Cloghernie  ;  and  knew  him  then  chiefly  as  one  of  the  clergymen 
connected  with  the  parishes  in  which  my  Tyrone  estate  (upon  which 
I  have  no  residence)  was  situate. 

The  following  account  of  the  parish  of  Cloghernie  is  derived  from 
some  notes  which  Dr.  Dixon  allowed  me  to  publish  as  an  appendix 
(M)  to  my  History  of  the  Manors  of  Finagh  and  Cook}  in  1881  ; 
in  preparing  which  book  I  was  greatly  aided  by  him  as  concerned 
the  Co.  Tyrone  part,  as  well  as  by  Dean  Reeves  (of  Armagh)  in  the 
Co.  Fermanagh  portion.  Dr.  Dixon  had  used  the  notes  for  an  article 
which  he  had  written  for  The  Parish  Magazine  in  1860-1.2 

After  some  introductory  remarks  about  the  district,  he  said  : 
"  Two  localities  in  the  district — one  in  the  present  parish  of  Cloghernie, 
the  other  in  Termonmaguirk — are  connected  with  the  names  of  Patrick 
and  Columbcille  ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  churches  of 
Donaghanie  and  Termonmaguirk  owe  their  origin  to  those  saints,  or 
to  some  of  their  earliest  disciples.  The  existence,  too,  of  the  extensive 
church  lands  of  Termonmaguirk,3  from  which  the  parish  derives  its 
name,  when  coupled  with  the  local  traditions  connected  with  Columb- 
cille, renders  it  probable  that  a  religious  house  of  some  extent  existed 
here  at  an  early  period  ;  to  the  support  of  whose  inmates  these  lands 
were  dedicated  by  the  piety  of  some  ancient  chief." 

The  lands  had,  no  doubt,  been  farmed  under  the  superintendence 
of  the  Coarb,  or  Erenagh  (i.e.,  the  successor  to  the  founder),  who  might 
be  either  a  man  or  a  woman  (e.g.,  Bi igid  and  others),  or  by  a  sept  or 
clan,  for  the  benefit  of  the  house.  It  generally  gave  its  name  to  the 
termon  lands.  Hence  this  parish  derived  its  name  from  the  sept  of 
the  Maguirks,  who  had  farmed  the  lands  before  the  Plantation  of  Ulster. 
This,  however,  was  not  the  original  name  of  the  termon.  Bishop 
Henry  Leslie  was,  at  the  time  of  the  wars  in  1641,  holding  the  lands, 
etc.,  of  this  parish  by  lease,  and  considered  the  value  to  himself  to  be 
about  ,£80  a  year. 

1  Longmans,  and  Alex.  Thom  &  Co.      Re-issued,  revised,  and  enlarged,  1903. 

2  Edited  by  the  Rev.  J.  Erskine  Clarke,  M.A.,  Vicar  of  St.  Michael's,  Derby. 

3  In  the  Irish  Historical  Atlas  of  1609,  called  "  Verruck."  They  are  mostly  now  part  of  the 
estate  of  Sir  John  Stewart,  Bart. 


38  ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D. 

The  present  church  of  Termonmaguirk  stands  at  the  entrance  of 
the  village  of  Carrickmore.  It  is  comparatively  modern — say  about 
ioo  years  old.  But  there  was  an  older  Protestant  church  built  at 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  higher  up  the  hill,  close 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  chapel  ;  and  with  a  burial-ground  now  used 
exclusively  by  its  congregation. 

"  No  trace  whatever  remains  of  any  of  the  buildings  connected  with 
the  original  tcrmon,  nor  does  any  local  tradition  record  their  existence 
or  their  site.  Some  singular  burial-places,  evidently  of  great  antiquity, 
and  some  sacred  wells  ....  alone  remain  to  attest  the  early 
existence  of  a  religious  settlement  in  this  locality." 

A  "Life"  of  St.Columbcille,  in  Irish,  by  a  prince  of  Tirconnell  named 
O'Donnell  (dr.  1520),  contains  the  earliest  tradition  attributing  the 
establishment  of  this  termon  to  that  saint.  Part  of  it  is  preserved 
in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy.  The  place  is  there  called  Termon- 
Cuiminigh,  which  is  sufficiently  near  to  "  Termon-Comyn  "  (which  this 
termon  bore  as  late  as  the  seventeenth  century)  as  to  render  its 
identity  with  Termonmaguirk  probable.  O'Donnell  said,  "on  a  certain 
occasion,  that  Columbcille  was  in  the  place  called  at  this  day  Termon- 
Cuiminigh,  in  Tyrone ;  he  consecrated  that  place,  and  gave  it  a  Termonn 
for  ever  after.  And  he  struck  three  strokes  of  his  crozier  into  the  hill, 
and  a  well  sprung  up  in  the  place  of  each  one  of  them.  And  he  spoke 
through  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  and  said  that  Donnell,  the  son  of  Aedh 
(Hugh),  that  is,  the  King  of  Erinn,  and  the  race  of  Conall  along  with 
him,  would  come  to  the  Termonn,  and  the  host  would  commit  great 
defilements  there  ;  and  that  himself  would  be  at  that  time  in  Scotland  ; 
and  that  it  would  be  a  pity  for  the  descendants  of  Conall  to  injure  or 
harm  this  Termonn,  whilst  himself  was  in  perpetual  exile  from  Erinn. 
And  he  said  that  he  would  obtain  from  God,  that  the  King  of  Erinn 
should  be  filled  with  disease  and  debility,  and  that  none  of  them  should 
possess  the  strength  of  a  woman  ....  on  that  occasion,  until 
the  Coarb  of  the  place  should  have  received  from  the  King  his  full 
demand  for  the  injury  done  to  the  Termonn  ;  and  when  he  had  received 
that,  that  he  should  sprinkle  some  of  the  water  of  the  wells  on  the 
King  and  his  host,  and  that  they  should  be  immediately  healed  ;  and 
that  Tobair-n-g-Conallach  (that  is,  wells  of  the  descendants  of  Conall) 
should  be  the  name  of  those  wells  for  ever  after,  in  commemor- 
ation of  this  great  miracle.  All  this  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  all 
things." 

There  is  a  well  near  Carrickmore,  in  a  field  near  the  road  leading 


ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D.  39 

to  Loughmacrory,  which  bears  the  name  of  Tobar-na-craobh-Conallach, 
or  well  of  the  branch  (i.e.,  race)  of  the  descendants  of  Conall. 

Ireland  was  divided  into  dioceses  and  parishes  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury ;  and  the  parish  of  Termon  Cuiminigh  was  constituted  before  the 
end  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  first  mention  of  it  occurs  in  a 
valuation  of  the  benefices  of  the  diocese  of  Armagh,  between  1291 
and  1306,  for  "  Pope  Nicholas's  taxation,"  which  is  extant  in  one  of  the 
record  offices  in  London.  The  parish  is  there  named  Termecomyn, 
and  its  annual  value  stated  to  be  two  marks,  or  ,£1  6s.  Sd.  The  tax 
assessed  was  one-tenth  part. 

The  parish  had  a  rector  and  a  vicar,  both  appointed  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Armagh.     Originally  the  parish  was  a  prebend  of  Armagh, 
until  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  prebends  were  reduced  from 
sixteen  to  four.     The  rector  received  two-thirds  of  the  tithes,  and  the 
vicar  one-third  of  all  the  parish,  except  the  townland  of  Donaghanie. 
And  on  Donaghanie,  until  some  time  not  long  before  1861,  stood  the 
remains  of  a  church  called  Donagh-a-nie  (the  Church  of  the  Horse), 
said  to  have  been   founded    by  St.   Patrick.     The  churchyard — still, 
perhaps,  used  as  a  place  of  interment— stood  on  the  top  of  a  low  round 
drift  hill,  overlooking  a  bog,  in  which  is  a  lake  called   Lough  Patrick. 
It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  this  church  is  not  shown  in  any  of  the 
maps  in  the  Irish  Historical  Atlas,  1609.     In  the  seventeenth  century 
Donaghanie  belonged  to  the  See  of  Clogher,  and  before  that  was  the 
property  of  some  religious  house — probably  the  abbey  of  Clogher. 
I  have  heard  it  said  that  this  townland  is  tithe  rent  charge  free  in 
consequence;  but  it  belongs  to  a  private  owner.    The  following  account 
was  a  local  one  :  "  It  happened  one  time  that   Patrick  was  in   Drum- 
connelly  [a  townland  in   Drumragh,  diocese  of  Derry,  of  which  the 
parish  church  is  now  in  Omagh],  that  he  was  travelling  to  a  place  now 
called   Donagh-a-nie,  and  he  met  a  man   with  a  horse,  who  told  him 
that  it  was  not  safe  for  him  to  go  any  further  in  that  direction,  on 
account  of  a  piest1  (a  gigantic  eel  or  water  serpent)  which  frequented 
a  lake  about  a  mile  off,  and  which  destroyed  all  men  and  cattle  which 
came  within  its  suckage.     And  Patrick  said  to  the  man,  '  If  you  will 
lend  me  your  horse,  I  will  enable  him,  by  the  power  of  the  God  I  serve, 
to  destroy  the  piest' ;  and  the  man  lent  him  his  horse.     And   Patrick 
went  on  until  he  came  to  the  top  of  the  hill  over  the  lough,  and  he 
ordered  the  horse  to  go  down  and  destroy  the  piest :  and  the  horse 
made  three  leaps,  and  in  the  last  he  leaped  into  the  lough,  and  he 

1  Pronounced  "  paslia. " 


40  ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D. 

drove  the  piest  out  of  it.  And  the  piest  fled  along  the  watercourse 
out  of  the  lough,  until  he  came  to  an  esker,1  and  then  it  fled  along  the 
top  of  the  esker — and  its  track  may  still  be  seen.  And  at  the  end  of 
the  esker  is  a  small  round  gravel  hill  ;  and  the  piest  went  round  and 
round  this  hill,  trying  to  burrow  into  it  and  escape  the  horse,  but  the 
horse  killed  it  then.  And  the  horse  went  back  to  Patrick  full  of  wrath 
and  fury  ;  and  he  was  so  fierce  and  violent  that  the  saint  feared  he 
would  do  some  mischief,  and  he  ordered  him  to  go  into  the  lough,  and 
to  stay  there  until  the  Day  of  Judgment.  And  the  horse  is  there  still. 
And  there  were  men  living  who  believed  that  they  had  seen  him. 
And  Patrick  built  a  church  on  the  top  of  the  hill  where  he  stood,  to 
commemorate  this  event,  and  to  remind  the  people  of  the  power  of 
God,  who  enabled  his  servant  to  work  this  great  deliverance  for  them. 
And  the  church  is  called  Donagh-a-nie — the  Church  of  the  Horse." 

To  return  to  the  parochial  income  and  the  tithes.  Those  of  wool, 
corn,  fish,2  and  flax  were  paid  in  kind  ;  for  every  milch  cow,  \d.,  and 
for  every  herd  of  swine,  one  pork  pig.  The  Primate  received  out  of 
the  termon  lands  as  rent,  £\  i^s.  \od.,  ten  methers  of  butter,  and  fines 
for  bloodshed. 

To  come  to  1609.  It  was  found  by  an  Inquisition  held  at  Dun- 
gannon,  that,  in  addition  to  the  parish  church,  there  was  a  chapel-of- 
ease  called  Templemoyleneclogherny  (i.e.,  the  bare  or  bald  church 
of  Cloghernie) ;  so  called,  either  because  it  had  no  tower,  or  because 
it  was  at  the  time  roofless.  I  observe,  however,  on  the  Baronial  Map 
of  Omagh  of  the  same  year,  that  whilst  the  parish  church  was  shown 
as  roofless,  Cloghernie  was,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,3  in  good  repair. 
It  is  now  the  parish  church  of  Cloghernie,  whose  side  walls  are  part  of 
the  original  edifice,  and  it  has  had  a  tower  as  long  as  I  have  known  it. 
The  use  of  the  word  "  Templemoyle  "  seems  to  show  that  the  church 
was  regarded  as  ancient  in  1609.  A  sessiagh  of  glebe  called  Cloghernie 
was  attached  to  the  church,  on  which  the  rectory  and  the  parish  school- 
house  now  stand.  It  and  Laragh  adjoining  seem  to  have  formed  part 
— with  Dervaghroy — of  the  old  ballybetagh  of  Durachrigh,  or  Deri- 
criagh,  of  the  map  of  1609. 

(To  be  continued.) 

1  There  is  a  townland  called  Esker  near  by. 

-  The  Camowan  or  Crooked  River  runs  through  the  district.  Trout,  no  doubt,  and  possibly 
salmon,  in  those  days,  may  have  been  found  in  it. 

3  It  is  not  always  easy  to  make  out  from  the  maps  which  churches  are  roofless  and  which  in 
repair. 


Miscellanea 


Irish  Journey  of   the  Papal  Nuncio  to  Henry  VIII.  (Chiericata),  1617. 
Verdelino  :  vol.  ix,  page  101-3. 

Lord  Belmore  has  placed  your  readers  under  an  obligation  by  reproducing  in  his  paper  on 
Termon  Magrath  the  account  of  above.  The  notes  are  helpful,  but  too  scanty,  and  the 
details  of  this  remarkable  pilgrimage  to  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory  deserve  further  elucidation. 
The  itinerary  seems  to  have  been — London,  by  Chester  to  Dublin  ;  thence  to  Dromore, 
"a  city  in  a  pleasant  plain  "  ;  and  then  "  five  miles  further  to  Doncalek,"  which  Lord  Belmore 
identifies  as  Dundalk.  If  it  be,  there  must  be  some  confusion  as  to  the  position  of  Dromore, 
which  is,  perhaps,  a  mistake  for  some  other  town  between  Dublin  and  the  latter.  Then 
"another  day's  journey  of  twenty-four  miles  "  brought  the  party  to  Armagh,  and  twenty 
miles  more  to  Clogher,  both  of  which  are  described,  as  is  more  fully  the  "Purgatory." 
The  narrative  states  that  the  party  "returned  by  the  same  road  to  Armagh,  and  after  visiting 
the  Abbey  of  Verdelino,  travelled  thirty-four  miles  further  to  a  city  on  the  sea,  called  Don." 
The  latter,  which  is  the  last  place  mentioned,  is  identified  as  Down,  but  no  explanation  is 
given  of  the  former.  I  therefore  write  to  point  out  that  the  abbey  which  Chiericata  calls 
of  Verdelino  is  evidently  the  Cistercian  foundation  at  Newry  which  Henry  VIII.  converted 
into  a  collegiate  church  at  the  suit  of  Sir  Arthur  Magennis.  See  Archdall's  Monasticon, 
where  the  various  names  by  which  Newry  was  called  are  enumerated,  including  one  in  the 
barbarous  Latin  of  the  age,  "  Monasterium  de  Viridi  Ligno,"  doubtless  referring  to  the  yew- 
trees  which  are  supposed  to  have  supplied  the  original  name  of  the  town.  See  Joyce  and 
Reeves.  The  "  Verdelino  "  of  the  Nuncio  is  evidently  the  form  which  the  name  received 
from  a  foreigner  unfamiliar  with  the  vernacular. 

J.  R.  Garstin. 

Cure  for  Consumption. 

I  HAVE  just  read  Lady  Wilde's  interesting  book  on  Ancient  Cures  and  Charms  of  Ireland. 
It  does  not  contain  any  notice  of  an  old  north  of  Ireland  "cure"  for  consumption:  a  disease 
formerly  called  by  the  peasantry  "decline."  I  remember,  when  a  lad,  a  labourer  on  my 
grandfather's  farm  at  Whitehouse  had  a  son  ill  with  consumption.  This  man  gathered  early 
every  morning  a  lot  of  small  white  snails  ;  he  put  over  them  salt,  then  added  milk,  which 
concoction  his  son  drank.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  snails — a  clean-feeding  mollusc — were  as 
nutritious  and   useful   a  dietetic   agent   as   oysters,   which    have    been   often  recommended. 

H.   S.   PURDON,   M.D. 


The  Magraths  of  Termon  Magrath. 


Dr.  George  U.  MacNamara  is  not  quite  accurate 
must  have  settled  in  Termon  Dabheog  at  some  period 
I  can  find  in  the  annals  of  the  death  of  a  Magrath  filling 
trator,  of  the  lands  of  Termon  Dabheog."  Far  from 
Magraths  as  lay  custodians  of  Lough  Derg,  there  is 
were  there  at  least  60  years  previously.  Under  date 
following  entry  occurs:  "Gilla  Adomhnain  Magrath, 
on  October  20th  of  this  year." 


when  he  states  that  "  the  Magraths 
ante  1344;  for  this  is  the  earliest  date 
the  office  of  Comha>  ba,  or  lay  adminis- 

1344  being  the  earliest  date  for  the 
evidence  to  show  that  the  Magraths 
of  1290  in  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  the 

Superior  of  Termon  Dabheog,  died 

Wm.  II.  G rattan  Flood. 


Reviews  of  Books* 

))  (( 

Publications  habing  any  bearing  upon  local  matters,  or  upon  Irish  or  general 

Antiquarian  subjects,  Ivill  be  rebielved  in  this  column;  "Books  or 

Articles  for  %ebielv  to  be  sent  to  the  "Editor. 


;^  (T 


'The  Music  of  I) eland.      By  Francis  O'Neill,  General  Superintendent  of  Police,  Chicago, 

U.S.A.     Chicago:   Lyon  &  Ilealy.      Price  i\s. 
To  describe  adequately  this  sumptuous  quarto  volume  of  1,850  airs,  printed  in  clear  music 
type,  suitable  for  violin,  (lute,  or  pipes,  would  seem  flattery,  but  let  me  at  once  state  that 
nowhere  is  there  procurable  such  a  large  collection  of  folk  tunes,  many  of  which  are  here 
printed  for  the  first  time. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  Captain  O'Neill,  the  compiler  of  this  collection,  has  the 
care  of  34,000  police  in  a  city  of  two  million  inhabitants,  and  that  it  was  only  in  the  intervals 
snatched  from  his  duties  that  he  was  able  to  glean  from  all  available  sources — printed, 
manuscript,  and  oral — the  tunes  he  liked  best,  no  one  will  begrudge  him  a  place  of  honour  by 
the  side  of  O'Conor,  Bunting,  Petrie,  and  Joyce. 

Chief  O'Neill,  as  he  is  called  by  his  familiars,  enlisted  the  co-operation  of  all  the  musical 
Gaels  in  Chicago,  and  thus  accumulated  a  colossal  pile  of  printed  and  manuscript  collections 
of  old  Irish  airs,  in  addition  to  the  thousands  of  melodies  taken  down  by  James  O'Neill  from 
pipers,  fiddlers,  and  flutists.  This  James  O'Neill,  it  will  interest  Northern  readers  to  learn, 
is  a  native  of  Ulster,  and  has  acted  for  years  as  "  musical  scribe"  to  Chief  O'Neill.  Thus 
Ulster  has  collaborated  with  Munster  in  producing  The  Music  of  Ireland. 

As  to  the  classification  of  the  tunes,  the  compiler  ha?  given  us — song  melodies,  625  ; 
compositions  by  Turlough  O'Carolan,  75;  double  jigs,  415;  slip  jigs,  60;  reels,  380; 
hornpipes,  225;  long  dances,  20;  and  marches,  etc.,  50— making,  in  all,  1,850  airs. 

Of  course  there  is  a  classified  index,  where  will  be  found  the  alternative  names  for  the 
tunes — hundreds  of  which  have  three  and  four  titles  for  the  same  melody.  In  the  body  of 
the  work  the  airs  are  given  Irish  and  English  names — a  task  of  no  small  magnitude— the 
Irish  names  being  in  the  Irish  character. 

It  can  be  well  understood  that  in  such  a  number  of  Irish  folk  songs  some  English, 
Welsh,  and  Scotch  airs  have  crept  in,  their  long  residence  in  Ireland  qualifying  them,  in  a 
sense,  as  "native  to  the  soil,"  whilst  a  few  modern  tunes  by  Irish  composers,  such  as 
"  Killarney  "  (Balfe),  "Come  back  to  Erin"  (by  Mrs.  Charles  Barnard,  better  known  as 
"Clairbel"),  "Ireland  for  ever,"  "The  dark  girl  dressed  in  blue,"  "I  met  her  in  the 
garden  where  the  praties  grow,"  etc.,  are  also  included.  However,  it  were  ungracious  to  be 
hypercritical,  and  we  can  only  expre.-s  our  unbounded  admiration  for  the  practical  patriotic 
spirit  which  animated  Chief  O'Neill  in  culling  such  gems  of  Irish  melody,  and  presenting 
them  in  such  an  attractive  form. 

As  a  gift-book  to  music-loving  Irishmen  and  Irishwomen  in  any  part  of  the  globe,  we 
can  unhesitatingly  recommend  O'Neill's  Music  of  Ireland,  and  we  feel  sure  that  it  will 
be  very  welcome  to  those  who  have  long  wished  for  such  a  collection.  The  publishers  are 
Lyon  &  Healy  of  Chicago,  but  the  book  may  be  had  through  the  leading  music-sellers. 
The  editor  of  this  journal  has  kindly  undertaken  to  transmit  copies  to  those  requiring  them. 

W.  H.  Grattan  Flood. 

?fC  >fC  *jZ  >fC 

The  Journal  of  the  Friends'1  Historical  Society. 

We  commend  this  magazine  to  all  those  interested  in  Quaker  history. 


REVIEWS   OF   BOOKS.  43 

Irish  Music:  being  an  examination  of  the  matter  of  scales,  modes,  and  keys,  with  practical 

instructions  and  examples  for  players.     By  the  Rev.  Richard  Henebry,  Ph.D.     Dublin: 

«.\n  cLo-ctun&nn.  Price  6d. 
Wk  welcome  warmly  the  appearance  of  this  excellent  little  brochure,  and  recommend  it 
most  strongly  to  all  those  interested  in  our  national  music.  1  r.  Henebry  is  one  of  the  very 
few  musicians  who  have  a  clear,  practical  understanding  of  the  nature  of  traditional  Irish 
music  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is  played  or  sung.  O'Sullivan,  in  his  introduction  to 
O'Curry's  Maimers  and  Customs,  made,  perhaps,  the  first  attempt  of  any  scholar  to  elucidate 
that  which  was  generally  unknown  about  the  native  scale  system  ;  but,  as  the  author  of  this 
pamphlet  points  out,  his  work  seems  "to  have  fallen  still-born  from  the  press  for  all  the  use 
made  of  it  in  Ireland."  We,  therefore,  hope  that  this  publication  will  be  widely  read  by  all, 
as  it  contains  much  of  the  first  importance  to  the  study  of  Irish  music. 

Referring  to  the  labours  of  Bunting,  Moore,  Petrie,  Joyce,  and  others,  Dr.  Henebry 
remarks  that  "those  collectors  used  the  modern  staff  notation  unchanged,  and  subjected  their 
tunes  to  the  whole  economy  of  playing.  In  reality,  what  they  did  was  to  report  the  Irish 
interval  accurately  where  it  chanced  to  coincide  with  the  modern,  and  where  it  did  not,  to 
substitute  the  nearest  modern  interval.  The  result  was  a  string  of  notes  altogether  out  of 
tune  with  the  rules  of  modern  composition  on  the  one  hand  and  totally  unknown  to  Irish 
music  on  the  other."  With  this  we  heartily  agree;  and  it  must  be  patent  to  all  that  if  a  tune 
is  composed  on  an  entirely  different  scale  system,  it  will,  when  translated  into  another,  suffer 
severely.  Not  one  in  a  hundred  amateur  (or  professional)  musicians  of  good  education  who 
sing  or  play  Irish  airs  is  conscious  that  there  exists  an  Irish  scale  differing  almost  note  for 
note  from  the  modern  system.  Still  less  is  it  known  that  the  traditional  music  of  Ireland 
can  not  be  played  on  the  pianoforte  ;  that  our  music  has  perhaps  suffered  more  in  the  last 
hundred  years  from  modernization  than  it  ever  did  from  neglect  ;  that  there  are  such  things 
as  fiddlers'  keys  with  fingering  distinct  from  that  used  in  modern  violin  playing  ;  that  the 
most  accomplished  violinists  brought  up  in  the  modern  school  would  find  extreme  difficulty 
in  playing  an  Irish  air  correctly,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  is  not  written  in  the  ordinary 
chromatic  or  diatonic  scale.  Many  airs  have  been  composed  since  the  English  settled  on 
our  shores,  not  a  few  of  which  are  strongly  tainted  by  foreign  elements,  and  some  of  these 
have  unfortunately  found  their  way  into  our  collections.  Take  the  writings  of  Carolan 
as  a  case  in  point.  Any  student  will  at  once  recognise  how  very  different  in  style  and 
feeling  these  compositions  are  from  our  more  ancient  tunes.  Our  oft-belauded  bard  might 
have  spent  much  of  his  life  in  Italy  to  judge  from  the  legacy  he  has  left  us. 

We  express  again  the  hope  that  lovers  of  our  ancient  folk-music  will  make  it  their  duty 
to  study  carefully  what  Dr.  Henebry  has  to  say  in  his  pamphlet,  which,  by  the  way,  can  be 
had  for  sixpence.  H.  H. 

*  *        *        * 

Poems  by  Helen  Patterson.     Privately  printed.      1903. 

This  little  brochure  of  sweet  poems  is  the  work  of  the  wife  of  our  confrere,  W.  H.  Patterson, 
m.r.i. A.,  and  certainly  upholds  the  best  traditions  of  that  family.  Belfast  has  well  nigh  lost 
its  name  as  a  literary  centre,  but  gleams  like  this  and  others,  which  from  time  to  time  come 
under  our  notice,  go  far  to  induce  us  to  believe  that  our  Northern  Athens  is  not  entirely 
lacking  in  those  qualities  which  earned  for  it  this  century-old  title. 

*  *        *        * 

An  English- Itish  Dictionary  and  Phrase  Bool:     By  Edmund  E.  Fournier  d'Albe.      Dublin  : 

Printed  by  the  Celtic  Association.      1903.      Price  6s.  net. 
Pending  the  production  of  the  larger  and  more  complete  official  Dictionary  of  the  Gaelic, 
we  welcome  this  volume  as  a  long-felt  want  supplied.      It  is  accurately  and  carefully  com- 
piled ;  and  as  a  book  of  reference,  will  be  fully  availed  of  by  the  numberless  Gaelic  students 
throughout  the  country. 


44  REVIEWS  OF   BOOKS. 

A    Lay   of  Ossian  and   Patrick,  with    other  Irish    Verses.      By  Stephen  Gwynn.     Dublin  : 

Hodges,  Figgis  &  Co.,  Ltd.      1903.     Price  is. 
We  are  very    glad  to  have  these  few   poems  from   the  pen    of  Stephen  Gwynn  collected 
together  and  printed  in  this  neat  form.     The  story  of  the  heroic  days  which  gives  its  title  to 
the  book  is  well  known  to  all  the  students  of  the  literature  of  this  period. 

"  Patrick  is  dead,  and  Ossian 
Gull  to  his  place  is  gone. 
But  the  words  and  the  deeds  of  heroes 
Linger  in  twilight  on." 
The  twilight  of  the  past  is  brightened  considerably  by  the  mass  of  literature  recently 
made  accessible  to  the  public  under  the  Gaelic  revival.     The  poem,  however,  that  attracts 
our  fancy  most  is  "A  Song  of  Defeat,"  which   we  certainly  consider  one  of  the  finest  his- 
torical  poems  written  in  recent  years.      It  deserves  a  place  in  every  school-book  in  Ireland, 
and  should  be  as  familiar  to  the  youth  of  the  present  day  as  Goldsmith's  "  Deserted  Village" 
was  to  the  generations  that  are  past.      It  is  a  short  poem,  yet  the  roll  of  Irish  heroes  mentioned 
is  a  considerable  one.      It  ranges  from  Brian  Boru  to  those  of  the  present  day.      We  cull  a 
stanza  from  a  period  very  often  in  the  minds  of  the  Northern  Irish  : 

"  I  call  to  your  mind  brave  Sarslield 
And  the  battle  in  Limerick  street, 
The  mine  and  the  shattered  wall 
And  the  battered  breach  held  good, 
And  William  full  in  retreat, 
And  at  the  end  of  all 
Wild  geese  rising  on  clamorous  wing, 
To  follow  the  flight  of  an  alien  king, 
And  the  hard  won  treaty  broke, 
And  the  elder  faith  oppressed, 
And  the  blood — but  not  for  Ireland  — 
Red  upon  Sarsfield's  breast." 

*  *        *        * 

The  Pikemen.  A  romance  of  the  Ards  of  Down.  By  S.  R.  Keightly.  London:  Hutchin- 
son &  Co.  1903. 
This  is  a  story  of  the  year  '98  in  the  county  of  Down,  written  in  vivid  and  telling  language 
by  one  who  has  an  excellent  knowledge  of  the  period  of  which  he  writes,  and  a  thorough 
grasp  of  local  circumstances  and  the  common  dialect  of  the  people.  There  is  not  a  dry  or 
uninteresting  chapter  throughout  the  hook,  and  it  will  afford  ample  pleasure  to  the  general 
reader  of  romance,  and  more  especially  to  those  who  are  residing  in  the  county  in  which  the 
principal  scenes  described  in  the  book  are  laid.  We  heartily  recommend  to  the  cultured 
author  the  desirability  of  a  cheaper  and  more  popular  issue  of  this  work,  so  as  to  make  its 
pages  accessible  to  everyone.  1  he  principal  characters  are  painted  with  a  decisive  brush, 
but  if  anything,  we  consider  the  scene  in  the  old  meeting-house  at  Greyabbey  a  little  over- 
drawn. Here  we  have  the  Rev.  James  Porter  balloting  in  the  communion  cup  for  the  name 
of  him  who  was  to  do  away  with  the  informer  Newell.  We  doubt  the  accuracy  of  this 
incident,  and  even  the  death  of  Newell  at  this  place  ;  nor  do  we  think  this  wretched  man 
was  such  a  character  as  is  so  skilfully  portrayed  by  the  writer.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  ill  to 
cavil  with  dry  historical  details  in  a  work  that  has  many  charms,  a  store  of  information,  and 
the  deepest  interest  to  even  the  most  casual  reader. 

*  *        *        * 

The  Volunteers  and  the  Irish  Parliament.      By  John  P.  Gunning.      Limerick:  Gray  &  Co., 

Ltd.  1903.  Price  is.  6d. 
We  would  have  much  preferred  that  this  little  book  had  not  been  the  Irish  Volunteers 
brought  up  to  date,  but  had  solely  treated  of  an  historic  epoch  of  great  importance,  and 
omitted  the  modern  deductions  and  appendix.  As  it  is,  the  subject  is  dealt  with  in  a  some- 
what confused  way,  and  is  neither  historical  nor  yet  of  the  nature  of  a  semi-political  essay. 
Much  of  the  information,  however,  contained  within  its  pages,  is  valuable  and  well  written. 


REVIEWS   OF   BOOKS.  45 

The  History  of  Two  Uls/et  Manors.     By  the  Earl  of  Belmore.      Dublin  :  Alex.  Thorn  &  Co. 

1903. 
This  is  a  re-issue  of  a  valuable  work  of  research  by  a  learned  and  researchful  contributor, 
and  must  have  entailed  a  vast  amount  of  labour,  even  to  one  who,  in  a  more  than  ordinary 
degree,  possesses  such  qualities  to  an  unusual  extent.  The  Plantation  of  Ulster  is,  perhaps, 
more  officially  recorded  than  any  other  period  of  Irish  history,  and  certainly  the  portions  of 
Tyrone  and  Fermanagh  dealt  with  in  this  volume  have  now  been  laid  before  the  public  in  a 
way  that  no  other  manors  have.  From  its  pages  the  future  chroniclers  of  the  different 
parishes  treated  can  with  certainty  obtain  such  material  as  is  necessary  in  their  work,  with 
full  details  of  family  history,  local  corporate  records,  funeral  entries,  tenants'  names,  and  all 
the  accurate  information  attached  to  a  long  possession  of  lands  and  houses  in  different 
families.  A  photogravure  portrait  of  the  learned  author  is  appropriately  placed  as  a  frontis- 
piece. 

*  *        *-        * 

The  Passionate  Hearts.  By  Ethna  Carbery.  Dublin  :  M.  H.  Gill  &  Son. 
Thksk  half-dozen  little  stories  of  the  sweet  singer  of  the  "  Four  Winds  of  Erinn  "  have  been 
faithfully  collected  by  him  who  was  so  dear  to  the  dead  writer  ;  and  now,  when  the  grass  is 
green  above  her  grave  in  Donegal,  they  are  a  welcome  treasure  to  those  who,  like  her, 
reverence  the  stories  of  hill  and  glen,  lake  and  island,  throughout  our  native  land.  Their 
beauty  and  simplicity,  and  the  virtuous  tone  that  pervades  them,  prove  them  to  be  the  very 
essence  of  a  life  spent  for  others  and  early  yielded  up. 

5fi  ^  >jC  Sy£ 

History  ami  Genealogy  of  the  Family  of  Bailie.     By  George  Alexander  Bailie.      Galveston  : 

Augusta.  1902. 
This  is  a  compilation  of  family  notes  made  by  an  Ulster  settler  in  America.  It  is  our  lot 
from  time  to  time  to  meet  many  such  collectors  of  family  records,  who,  when  they  re-cross 
the  Atlantic  after  research  in  the  home  country  for  an  ancestry  more  or  less  difficult  to  find, 
never  fail  to  publish  their  notes,  often  hastily  collected.  The  time  spent  in  this  somewhat 
arduous  occupation  varies  from  a  few  hours  or  less  to  several  months,  and  often  those  at 
home,  who  are  conversant  with  larger  historical  facts,  are  amazed  at  the  turn  they  take  when 
they  appear  in  cold  print.  The  present  book  occupies  a  medium  place.  We  have  seen  much 
worse,  and  much  better.      Still,  it  is  an  addition  to  County  Antrim  history. 

*  *        *        * 

The  O'Dempseys,  Chiefs  of  the  Clan  Maliere.      By  Thomas  Matthews.      Dublin:    Hodges, 

Figgis  &  Co.      1903. 

This  is  a  well  compiled  history  of  an  Irish  clan,  once  chieftains  of  Offaly,  now  scattered  and 

broken  throughout  the  world.     The  pedigree  is  traced   from   Ileremon,  who  was  buried  on 

the  banks  of  the    Moyne  in  the  fourth  century,  down  to  their  dispossession  in  the  reign  of 

Charles  II.       Certainly  everyone  ot  the  name  should  possess  a  copy  of  this  book,  telling 

of  the  deeds  of  a  long  ancestry. 

■%,       %       4:        $i 

A  Lad of  the  O ' Friels.  By  Seumas  MacManus.  London:  Isbister  &  Co.  1903.  Price  6?. 
This  book  should  have  been  printed  and  published  in  Ireland.  To  find  Donegal  stories  in  a 
strange  garment  is  not  quite  satisfactory  in  these  later  days.  Not  that  we  have  any  fault  to 
find  with  the  stories,  for  they  are  indeed  redolent  of  the  turf  fire,  the  blue  hill,  the  deep 
lake,  and  the  winding  road  of  Donegal.  This  volume  is  certainly  the  best  collection  of 
stories  from  Dun-na-gall  ;  but  we  have  our  doubts — receiving  penny  monthlies  and  buying 
papers  at  the  railway  stalls— that  our  good  friend  Seumas  is  writing  perhaps  a  little  too  much, 
and  spreading  out  the  ample  material  at  his  disposal  too  thinly,  and  just  occasionally  with  a 
flavour  of  the  stage  Irishman  about  it.  We  are  sorry  to  admit  this,  but  it  is  better  to  do  so, 
as  it  has  occurred  to  us  once  or  twice.  No  man  knows  the  Dun-na-gall  peasantry  and  the 
stories  and  legends  of  Tir-conal  better  than  Seumas  MacManus,  and  sorry  we  would  be  if  he 
should  fall  away  from  the  high  position  we  had  always  laid  out  for  him. 


46  REVIEWS   OF   BOOKS. 

A  Social  History  of  Ancient  Ireland.      By  P.  W.  Joyce.      London  :    Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 

1903.  Printed  in  Dublin.  Price  £1  is. 
This  is  a  book  that  we  have  long  looked  for,  and  now  heartily  welcome.  The  social  rites  of 
ancient  Ireland  have  never  previously  been  treated  in  such  a  thorough  and  exhaustive  way  in 
an  accessible  form.  O'Curry's  Manners  and  Customs  is  a  storehouse  for  such  material,  but 
it  is  by  no  means  a  popular  work,  and  it  lacks  illustration,  which  is  so  instructive  to  the 
general  reader.  The  present  volume  is  not  deficient  in  this  respect,  although  we  would 
like  to  see  more  new  ones,  and  the  pages  of  this  work  were  fully  entitled  to  them.  We  have 
not  the  space  to  go  into  the  contents  of  this  book  in  a  way  that  it  deserves,  but  we  must  refer 
to  the  extreme  accuracy  of  statements,  of  inference,  of  quotations,  and  of  reference  throughout 
the  whole  work,  full  acknowledgment  being  given  to  the  works  of  others.  The  personalities 
of  a  chieftain's  home  life,  the  clan  life,  the  surroundings  of  battle,  the  chase,  the  burial, 
and  all  the  accessories  of  a  nomadic  people  verging  into  mediaeval  civilization  are  fully  and 
painstakingly  described.  Dr.  Joyce  has  succeeded  in  producing  a  work  second  to  none  in 
the  wide  and  extensive  plain  of  historical  research.  He  has  used  his  great  endowments  as 
a  Celtic  scholar,  antiquary,  and  historian  in  the  production  of  this  work,  and  it  is  a  worthy 
monument  to  a  worthy  man. 

*        *        #        * 

History  of  Drumholm.     By  Thomas  Kearney.      Derry  :  James  Hempton.      Price  6d. 

We  are  always  glad  to  see  such  little  parochial  publications  as  this,  setting  out  the  different 

incidents  and  historic  facts  connected  with  the  parish. 

JfC  'T'  t^  *T» 

Pat  McC arty:  his  Rhymes.     Hy  John  Stevenson.      London:   Edward  Arnold.      190J.      Price 

6s.  net. 
This  is  a  dainty  volume,  ribboned  and  bound  in  green  linen,  the  work  of  a  Helfastman. 
Throughout  its  pages  the  Ulster  Scot  appears  in  all  his  characteristics — his  dourness  and  sad 
gaiety,  his  love  of  home  and  country,  his  penuriousness  and  kindness  of  heart,  his  thrawing 
ways,  biassed  opinions,  and  integrity  of  purpose,  with  a  puritanic  shade  of  religion 
permeating  every  page.  We  can  sit  in  his  kitchen  and  see  the  dresser  covered  with 
burnished  plates,  and  hear  the  cricket  upon  the  hearth,  and  reverently  behold  the  well- 
thumbed  Bible  upon  the  table,  see  the  scolding  wife  at  the  door,  the  lavish  beggar  in  her  cot  ; 
for  the  rich  are  niggards  and  the  beggars  spendthrifts —  for  "them  that  has  plinty  wudn't  gie 
ye  naethin',  and  them  that  has  naethin'  vvud  divide  onything  they  hev."  We  have  read  no 
better  description  of  the  interior  of  an  Antrim  cottage  than  this  :  "  The  table  was  laid  in  the 
centre  of  the  kitchen  floor,  and  over  the  peat  fire  on  a  great  griddle  were  nearly-cooked 
scones,  baked  by  the  good  wife  in  honour  of  the  visitor  ;  a  splendid  collie  lay  winking  at  the 
firelight,  and  Pat,  my  host,  in  shirt-sleeves,  was  sitting  at  what  he  called  his  desk-  a  board 
made  to  rise  and  fall  in  front  of  the  window  looking  eastward  and  seaward.  .  .  .  The 
task  finished,  Pat  put  on  his  coat,  and  his  wife  summoned  us  to  the  table  ;  but  before  a  morsel 
was  touched  she  took  the  '  big  Book,'  which  was  part  of  her  marriage  portion,  and  put  a 
smaller  Bible  into  her  husband's  hands;  then  they  found  Psalm  xxix.,  and  read  it  verse 
about  .  .  .  'and  where,"  said  Pat,  as  he  put  away  the  books,  'could  you  find  songs  that 
stir  you  to  the  heart  like  these?'  Then  the  meal  proceeded."  We  might  fill  pages  with 
quotations  of  similar  accuracy,  and  even  greater  beauty,  but  we  would  prefer  to  recommend 
the  reader  to  peruse  the  pages  of  this  book  for  himself:  he  will  not  be  disappointed  by  doing 
so.  He  will  find  those  strong  and  distinct  characteristics  of  the  Antrim  people  portrayed  to 
life,  nor  will  he  fail  to  find  that  the  Antrim  glens  are  a  portion  of  Ireland  having  Scotland 
ever  in  view,  yet  the  heart  of  them  ever  warm  to  the  old  country  ;  and  although  Pat  sings  little 
about  the  wrongs  of  his  country,  to  use  the  writer's  own  words,  ''I  do  not  minimize  these 
wrongs.  The  tears  they  brought  are  still  in  the  eyes  of  dark  Rosaleen,  and  for  three 
hundred  years  to  come  there  will  be  a  catch  in  her  voice  when  she  sings  because  of  them  ; 
and  often  yet  '  her  holy,  delicate  white  hands'  will  gird  sons  to  fight  for  her,  but  the  fighting 
will  not  be  with  sword  and  pike."  It  makes  us  proud  to  think  that  an  Ulster  hand  and  heart 
can  still  produce  such  a  book  as  this. 


REVIEWS   OF   BOOKS.  47 

Lady  Anne's  Walk.  By  Eleanor  Alexander.  London  :  Edward  Arnold.  1903. 
With  Pat  McCarty  in  an  Antrim  glen  and  Lady  Anne  in  an  archiepiscopal  palace,  we  have 
two  very  distinct,  yet  accurate,  views  of  Ulster  life  in  different  phases.  This  book  is  unique 
in  many  ways.  It  is  local  in  every  sense  of  the  term.  All  the  glories  and  traditions  of  the 
primatial  See  of  Saint  Patrick,  the  royal  funeral  of  King  Brian,  the  early  saints,  mediaeval 
warriors,  and  more  modern  church  princes,  are  here  depicted  in  all  their  fulness.  Never  can 
we  get  out  of  sight  of  the  old  minster,  with  its  squat  tower  and  many  memories.  The  writer 
has  inherited  the  glowing  colours  and  splendid  sunset,  and  the  quiet  humour  of  her  father  the 
Primate.  As  the  bee  in  the  garden  gathers  food  and  stores  from  the  most  unlikely-looking 
sources,  so  from  old  gardener  Tummus  the  writer  has  gleaned  many  quaint  phrases,  and  at 
least  one  unequalled  narrative.  We  refer  to  his  description  of  the  sham  fight  at  Scarva,  and 
risk  the  spoiling  of  the  story  by  its  curtailment.  We  take  a  paragraph  out  of  its  centre,  giving 
the  conversation  that  took  place  between  the  bogus  King  William  and  the  bogus  King  James 
as  they  meet  in  "  deadly  combat "  on  the  make-believe  battlefield  : 

"  Come  on,  ye  thirsty  tyrant  ye  !"  says  William. 

"  Come  on,  ye  low,  mane  usurper  !"  says  James. 

"  Come  on,  ye  heedious  enemy  of  ceevil  and  releegious  liberty  ye  !"  says  William. 

"  Come  on,  ye  glorious,  pious,  and  immortal  humbug  ye  ! "  says  James. 

"  Come  on,  ye  Gladstone  ye,  and   Parnell,  and  Judas,  and   Koran,  and   Dathan, 

and  Abiram  !  "  says  William. 
"  Come  on,  ye  onnatural  parasite  ye,  and  Crumvvell,  and  Shadrach,  and  Mesech, 

and  Abednego  ! "  says  James. 
"  Come  on,  ye  auld  Puseyite,  and  no  more  about  it  ! "  says  William. 

We  may  describe  this  book  as  a  series  of  essays,  topographical  and  historical,  with 
a  strong  literary  flavour  thrown  in,  and  much  local  colour.  Take  this,  for  instance  :  "  The 
grateful  inhabitants  long  cherished  the  hope  that,  according  to  the  promise  given  during  the 
sublime  interview  at  Capua,  in  the  last  day,  when  the  twelve  apostles  sit  on  the  twelve 
thrones,  judging  the  tribes  of  Israel,  a  thirteenth  throne  will  be  set  for  Saint  Patrick,  when 
he  will  judge  the  people  of  Ireland.  There  is  local  colour  here.  Impartiality  is  not  a  quality 
which  we  care  much  about.  When  the  representatives  of  rival  clubs  meet  in  a  football  or 
hurling  match,  the  position  of  an  unprejudiced  umpire  is  often  one  of  considerable  danger. 
We  want  both  here  and  hereafter  to  be  sure  of  a  friendly  umpire."'  It  places  us  on  the  high 
seat  to  come  across  such  a  book  as  this,  written  by  hands  we  know,  describing  scenes  that  we 
see  again  as  we  read  the  words  describing  them.  Emania,  the  Red  Branch  Knights,  Patrick, 
Lupita,  and  Hrigit — -all  are  there,  not  as  spirits  of  the  long  past,  but  as  present  occupants  of 
the  landscape.  The  writer  has  depicted  Lady  Anne  in  language  that  we  can  only  apply  to 
herself — the  loving  daughter  of  her  who  wrote  "  The  Burial  of  Moses  "  and  "  There  is  a  Green 
Hill  Far  Away,"  and  of  him  who,  apart  from  his  ecclesiastical  dignity,  stands  pre-eminently 
first  in  eloquence  and  literary  attainments.  "  She  heard  music  in  the  running  water,  she 
read  the  poetry-b  >ok  of  nature,  she  talked  with  God  and  the  great  spirits  of  all  ages  whom 
He  has  inspired  to  be  His  interpreters.  She  took  a  large  view  of  life  ;  she  loved  the  land  of 
her  birth,  and  the  pleasant  place  where  her  lines  had  fallen.  The  men  and  women  whom  she 
met  held  the  unfading  interest  of  human  problem  and  human  need  :  and  the  men  and  women 
of  the  uncertain  past  came  out  of  the  shadows  of  her  historic  home,  peopled  the  old  waste 
places,  and  also  claimed  her  attention  and  her  sympathy." 

"t*  *f*  T*  ^ 

Old-Time  Music.      By  P.  O'Leary.     Graiguenamanagh.      1904. 

This  is  a  welcome  pamphlet  dealing  with  some  local  lore  in  the  lovely  village  of  Graigue- 
namanagh. nestling  by  the  Barrow,  under  the  hill  of  Brandon.  There  are  several  references 
to  the  old  harpers,  and  a  curse  on  Cromwell  for  his  destruction  of  the  national  instrument. 
Cromwell  "quartered"  the  harp  upon  his  arms  in  England,  and  at  the  same  time 
"quartered  "  the  harpers  in  Ireland. 


48  REVIEWS   OF    HOOKS. 

How  to  Decipher  and  Study  Old  Documents.     By  E.  E.  Thoyts.     London  :  Elliott  Stork. 

Price  35.  6d. 
This  book  deals  with  the  interpretation  of  documents  that  are  to  the  ordinary  student 
unreadable.      It  is  written  in  a  clear  concise  way,  and  will  be  of  the  greatest  use  to  those  who 
are  working  at  original  deeds  and   MSS.      The  chapter  on   Parish   Registers   is   particularly 

valuable  to  Irish  "students. 

*  *        *        * 

The  Bloody  Budge,  and  other  Papers  relating  to  the  Insurrection  0/1641.      By  T.  Fitzpatrick. 

Dublin  :  Sealy,  Bryers  &  Walker.  1903. 
THKRE  is  no  more  critical  period  in  Irish  history  than  the  one  dealt  with  in  these  pages,  nor 
no  one  about  which  more  misstatements  have  been  made  and  false  deductions  drawn.  The 
writer  has  in  the  pages  of  this  book  dealt  with  County  Down  incidents  ;  his  position  in  the 
alleged  "Massacre"  is  this:  "The  massacre  of  Milton,  Temple,  Borlase,  May,  Bushworth, 
Cox,  Harris,  Carlyle,  and  Froude  is  a  stupendous  falsehood,  even  on  the  showing  of  the  very 
documents  upon  which  the  charge  is,  ignorantly  or  malignantly,  based  ;  namely,  the  Deposi- 
tions preserved  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin."'  To  substantiate  this  position,  the  writer,  as  we 
proceed  from  chapter  to  chapter,  drives  home  truth  after  truth  that  go  far  to  satisfy  us  that 
he  is  right.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  these  "depositions"  were  got  up  to  make  a  case 
against  the  older  race,  and  got  up  deliberately — they  had  no  bona-fides  ;  but  take  them  as  they 
stand,  and  examine  them  critically,  technically,  and  legally,  and  they  prove  nothing  in  the 
nature  of  a  "Saint  Bartholomew  in  Ireland."  Let  truth  prevail,  no  matter  which  side 
suffers  ;  and  the  present  volume  must  go  far  to  establish  a  much  better  idea  of  the  merits  of 
this  often  fought  over  period.  The  work  is  one  that  has  entailed  vast  labour  on  the  writer — 
labour  of  correction,  of  research,  and  extended  reading  of  all  contemporaneous  accounts, 
with  a  well-balanced  mind,  capable  of  unravelling  the  truth  from  a  very  mixed-up  skein  of 

biassed  information. 

*  *        *        * 

Ireland  under  English  Rule.     By  Thomas  Addis  Emmet.     New  York:   G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 

1903.  Price  £\  \s. 
The  name  of  Emmet  is  writ  large  on  the  pages  of  Irish  history.  In  1803,  in  Dublin, 
the  tragedy  of  Robert  Emmet  was  enacted  ;  in  1903  his  grand-nephew  gives  to  the  public 
these  two  sumptuous  volumes.  The  integrity  and  singleness  of  purpose  of  an  Emmet  have 
never  been  doubted.  Truly  the  hangman's  rope  is  the  proudest  charge  on  the  Emmet  shield, 
and  an  unknown  grave  their  saddest,  noblest  memory.  The  writer  is  now  an  aged  man, 
cultured  beyond  the  ordinary  degree,  a  scion  of  an  old  aristocratic  race,  with  an  ancestry 
traceable  to  the  Royal  blood  of  England.  He  has  won  a  fame  and  a  name  in  the  States, 
wearing  their  best  scientific  and  academic  degrees.  His  home  is  a  perfect  gallery  of  Emmet 
relics.  This  book  is  a  "plea  for  the  plaintiff,"  or  an  advocate's  special  pleading  in  a  cause 
dear  to  his  heart.  A  perusal  of  its  pages  is  a  healthy  exercise  after  reading,  say,  Froude's 
English  in  Ireland ;  then  anyone  as  a  common  juryman  may  give  his  own  verdict ;  but  let 
him  read  both  sides — thai  is  all,  and  only  fair.  The  question  is  one  very  much  sub-judice  at 
the  present  moment.  The  writer  in  his  preface  states  the  "one  great  purpose  he  has  had 
in  view  throughout  was  to  do  justice  to  the  Irish  people  as  a  whole."  How  far  he  has 
succeeded  in  this  the  reader  of  these  two  volumes  can  decide  for  himself. 

H<       *       *       * 
The  Newry  Telegraph  of  28  November,  1903,  contains  a   letter   from  the  Rev.  Canon   Lett, 
on  "  Maria  Edgeworth  at  Rostrevor,"  well  worthy  of  perusal. 

*  *        *        * 

The  United  Irishman  of  26  Dec,  1903,  contains  "Upton's  Wolves,"  an  account  of  the 
destruction  of  the  last  wolves  in  Ireland,  by  Clotworthy  Upton  of  Templepatrick,  in  1692. 
Romance  and  fact  are  so  skilfully  mingled  that  the  whole  reads  as  truth.  Dundrod, 
Legoniel,  Wolfhill,  Lisnagarvey,  are  a  few  of  the  places  specially  mentioned  in  their  old 
Gaelic  names.  The  writing  is  picturesque  in  the  extreme,  and  the  whole  surroundings 
painted  in  with  accuracy  and  glowing  effect.  '  This  is  certainly  the  most  recent  masterpiece 
from  the  masterly  hand  of  our  clever  young  Belfast  citizen  -Seosam  MacCatmaoil. 


^ 


ULSTER  JOURNAL  OF 

ARCHAEOLOGY 

Volume  X APRIL  1904 Number  2 

KDiTF.n  by  FRANCIS  JOSEPH  BIGGER,  m.r.i.a.,  Ardrie,  Belfast. 

Crannogs,  or  Artificial  Islands, 

in  the  Counties  of  Antrim  and  Derry. 

By  W.  J.  Knowles,  m.r.i.a. 

(  Continued  from  page  32.) 

I~  N  continuing  the  interesting  papers  by  the  late  Bishop  Reeves, 
written  nearly  half  a  century  ago,  and  republished  in  the  last 
two  parts  of  the  Journal,  I  take  it  that  the  task  assigned  to 
me  is  to  state  the  present  condition  of  the  various  crannogs  dealt 
with  in  those  papers.     This  I  shall  do  as  far  as  I  am  able. 

LOUGHMAGARRY. — This  crannog  is  on  the  farm  of  Hugh  Gray 
of  Teeshan,  and  is  about  three  miles  from  Ballymena,  near  the  side 
of  the  main  road  leading  from  that  town  to  Bally  money.  The  bed  of 
the  former  lough  is  now  dry,  though  still  damp  and  marshy,  and  can 
be  seen  from  the  road.  The  centre  of  the  crannog  is  now  represented 
by  an  earthen  knoll,  which  must  have  been  a  small  island  when  the 
water  was  on  the  bed  of  the  lough.  Some  of  the  oak  stakes  which 
surrounded  the  island  are  still  visible.  I  counted  twenty-one  on  the 
north  side,  but  the  owner  said  that  remains  of  the  stakes  could  be 
found  all  round  the  knoll.  They  are  about  four  feet  from  the  base, 
and,  by  measuring  roughly,  I  would  estimate  the  quantity  of  ground 
embraced  by  the  surrounding  stakes  to  be  half  an  acre.  When  the 
water  filled  the  lough,  there  must  have  been  a  large  circular  platform, 
supported  on  oak  piles,  surrounding  the  central  core  of  solid  clay  or  gravel. 
Possibly  the  house  may  have  been  erected  on  this  solid  central  island, 
which  would  stand  up  much  higher  than  the  platform.  Judging  from 
the  number  of  heaps  of  stones  surrounding  the  base  of  the  knoll  at 
present,  the  house  may  have  been  of  stone  ;  but  at  same  time  these 
could  have  been  utilized  with  earth  and  sods  to  make  flooring  on  the 
D 


50  CRANNOGS,  OR  ARTIFICIAL   ISLANDS. 

platform,  and  the  house  have  been  formed  of  wood.  One  can  only 
speculate  on  this  matter,  as  the  island,  judging  from  the  ridges  and 
furrows  now  appearing,  has  been  cleared  of  stones,  and  planted  with 
potatoes.  The  owner  does  not  remember  this  being  done,  and  he 
believes  this  clearing  and  cultivation  must  have  taken  place  about  sixty- 
years  ago,  previous  to  his  father  buying  the  farm.  A  canoe  and  two 
paddles  were  found  a  short  distance  from  the  crannog,  which  were 
sold  to  Canon  Grainger,  and  should  now  be  in  the  Grainger  Collection. 
Between  the  island  and  a  fort  which  formerly  existed  just  on  the 
edge  of  the  lake,  he  found  a  bronze  pin  with  flattish  broad  head. 
This  was  also  sold  to  Canon  Grainger,  but  it  might  belong  as  readily 
to  the  occupiers  of  the  fort  as  to  those  of  the  crannog.  The  top  of 
the  fort  has  been  removed  to  topdress  fields  reclaimed  from  the 
bottom  of  the  lake.  Neighbouring  farmers  remember  beams,  bored 
and  mortised,  being  found  while  draining ;  and  Richard  Bell  got  a 
two-edged  iron  sword  while  draining  close  to  the  island.  This  man 
has  now  left  the  district,  and  it  is  not  known  what  became  of  the 
sword.  Except  a  few  drains  through  the  bed  of  the  former  lake,  very 
little  digging  has  taken  place,  and  such  relics  as  would  drop  through 
the  platform  or  over  the  edge  of  it  are  no  doubt  still  buried  up.  The 
draining  of  the  lough  has  altered  boundaries,  and  three  townlands 
which  adjoin  have  had  portions  of  the  bed  of  the  lough  assigned  to 
them.  Loughmagarry  crannog  is  therefore  not  now  in  the  townland 
of  that  name  ;  nor  yet  in  that  of  Fenagh,  of  which  Loughmagarry  is 
said  to  be  a  subdenomination,  but  in  the  townland  of  Teeshan.  The 
name  Glenagherty  is  still  remembered.  It  was,  I  believe,  an  old 
name  for  the  Galgorm  estate ;  but  no  one  in  First  Ballymena  Presby- 
terian Church  remembers,  or  ever  heard  of,  any  part  of  that  church 
being  called  the  Glenagherty  aisle. 

LOUGHTAMAND. — This  lough  is  now  sufficiently  drained  to  be 
free  from  any  sheet  of  water ;  but  the  surface,  which  was  at  one  time 
the  bottom  of  the  lough,  is  soft  and  swampy.  The  crannog  is  as  low 
as  the  surrounding  surface,  but  can  easily  be  distinguished  by  its 
greener  appearance  and  a  few  stakes  still  remaining  on  the  outside 
margin.  I  found  the  breadth  of  this  portion  to  be  sixteen  paces, 
which  corresponds  pretty  nearly  to  the  diameter  inside  the  piles 
(fifteen  yards),  as  given  by  Dr.  Reeves.  He  mentions,  however,  that 
the  whole  island  was  seventy  yards  in  diameter  ;  but  I  could  see  no 
indication  that  an  island  of  such  diameter  ever  existed  there.  Dr. 
Reeves  says  there  was  a  stone  house  on  the  island,  said  to  have  been 


CRANNOGS,  OR  ARTIFICIAL  ISLANDS.  5 1 

a  stronghold  of  the  MacQuillins.  If  such  a  structure  ever  existed, 
the  stones  must  have  sunk  through  the  soft  mud  to  the  bottom, 
as  none  is  visible,  and  I  do  not  believe  they  could  have  been  carted 
away  over  the  swamp,  or  that  any  one  would  take  the  trouble  of 
carrying  them  away  stone  by  stone.  I  am  told  by  the  owner, 
Thomas  Bell,  that  on  digging  down  he  came  on  the  floor  of  the 
original  crannog  ;  and  I  believe,  from  the  appearance  it  presents, 
that  it  is  still  unexplored.  In  addition  to  the  articles  mentioned 
by  Dr.  Reeves  as  having  been  found  at  Loughtamand,  I  was 
informed,  on  a  recent  visit,  that  a  bronze  or  brass  bowl,  "  like  a 
scale  you  would  weigh  with,"  had  been  found  near  the  crannog,  and 
was  sold  to  a  watchmaker  in  Ballymena  for  2s.  ^d,  A  spear-head  of 
iron,  eighteen  inches  long,  which  went  to  the  bad,  and  a  grindstone, 
had  also  been  found.  Thomas  Bell  gave  me  the  greater  portion  of  an 
earthen  bowl  which  had  been  dug  up  on  the  site  of  the  crannog. 
Instead  of  giving  drawings  of  portions  of  the  vessel,  I  found  I  could 
easily  make  out  its  original  shape,  as  there  was  about  half  the  rim, 
besides  a  third  of  the  bottom,  and  eighteen  fragments  of  the  sides. 
I,  therefore,  asked  my  daughter  to  give  a  restored  view  of  the  vessel, 
which  she  did  (see  fig.  6).  It  is  ornamented  with  a  wavy  line  round 
the  neck,  and  is  six  and  a  half  inches  broad  at  the  rim,  which  is  neatly 
overturned  ;  five  and  three-eighth  inches  broad  at  the  bottom,  which  is 
quite  flat,  and  four  and  a  half  inches  high.  It  is  hand-made,  thin,  and 
well  baked. 

I  wrote  to  Lord  O'Neill  to  know  if  the  canoe  and  swords  found  at 
Loughtamand,  and  which  are  supposed,  as  mentioned  by  Dr.  Reeves, 
to  have  gone  to  Shane's  Castle,  were  still  in  his  keeping.  He  replied 
that  he  never  heard  of  swords  being  found  or  brought  to  Shane's 
Castle  to  his  knowledge ;  and  the  only  single-piece  canoe  he  knows 
of  about  Shane's  Castle  was  one  found  between  Randalstown  and 
Toome  about  1863. 

KlLNOCK. — I  visited  this  crannog  on  4  March,  1904.  There  is 
now  no  water  in  the  site  of  the  former  lough,  but  the  ground  was 
shaky  as  one  walked  along,  betokening  much  soft,  boggy  material 
below  the  tough  sward.  The  island  was  easily  made  out,  as  its 
herbage  is  much  greener  than  that  of  the  ground  surrounding  it. 
Several  sally-bushes  are  growing  round  the  margin,  and  partly  into 
the  centre.  No  one  knew  what  I  meant  when  I  inquired  for  the 
crannog,  but  it  is  known  as  the  island.  I  paced  the  green  portion, 
which  looks  rather  circular,  and  found  it  about  nineteen  paces  in 


52 


CRANNOGS,   OR    ARTIFICIAL    ISLANDS. 


diameter.  (Dr.  Reeves  gives  the  diameter  as  sixty  feet.)  Almost 
the  whole  of  the  bottom  of  the  former  lake  is  in  the  townland  of 
Kilnock,  and  in  Lord  O'Neill's  estate.  Alexander  Macllvenna  is  the 
occupier  of  nine  and  a  half  acres,  and  one  acre  is  occupied  by  another 
person.  He  remembered  the  Rev.  Leonard  Hasse  of  Gracehill,  near 
Ballymena,  and  some  others,  coming  to  dig  in  the  island,  and  one  of 
them  got  portion  of  a  quern.  He  (Macllvenna)  also  got  the  top  of  a 
quern,  which  he  showed  me.     Besides  the  central  hole,  it  has  three 

holes  near  the  margin.  One  has  been  in  a 
weak  spot,  and  the  others  were  evidently 
made  as  substitutes  for  it.  He  also  got 
some  fragments  of  pottery  and  "  teeth  of 
an  extra  size."  He  remembers  seeing  the 
timbers  of  the  floor  below  the  surface. 
A  canoe  may  have  been  found,  but  he  does 
not  remember  hearing  of  it.  He  said  Kil- 
nock is  part  of  Lord  O'Neill's  Monterividy 
estate,  but  he  never  heard  of  the  name 
Loughernagilly.  I  believe  this  crannog  is 
in  its  original  state,  and  has  been  very  little 
interfered  with. 

Derryhullagh  (Lough  Ravel). — 
A  considerable  number  of  articles  have 
been  found  in  this  crannog  from  time  to 
time  ;  probably  owing,  as  in  the  case  of 
Lisnacrogher,  to  the  peat  on  which  it 
rested  being  cut  away  for  fuel.  I  have 
several  articles  which  were  found  here, 
including  a  very  perfect  iron  axe,  shown  in 
fig.  i  ;  a  bronze  pin,  with  four  settings  of 
enamel,  two  of  yellow  colour  and  two 
whitish  with  reddish  streaks  (see  fig.  3).  It  is  in  very  perfect  condition. 
There  is  another  pin  of  bronze,  all  in  one  piece,  with  a  portion 
bent  round  in  a  circle  to  form  a  head,  and  soldered  to  the  main  stem 
(see  fig.  2)  ;  also  a  penannular  brooch,  of  whitish  bronze,  ornamented 
with  dots,  represented  in  fig.  4.  The  canoe  which  Lord  O'Neill 
describes  as  coming  from  a  bog  between  Randalstown  and  Toome 
may  have  belonged  to  this  crannog.  He  gives  the  dimensions  of  the 
canoe  as  twelve  feet  long,  and  three  feet  to  three  feet  six  inches  wide. 
The  paddle  is  about   four  feet  long,  and   its  blade  shaped   almost 


CRANNOGS,  OR  ARTIFICIAL  ISLANDS. 


53 


exactly  like  an  ordinary  narrow  oar.  Colonel  Wood-Martin  gives  a 
list  of  the  articles  found  in  this  crannog  from  time  to  time.  See 
Lake  Dwellings  of  Ireland,  pp.  163-4. 

Lough  Crannagh  (Benmore).— I  have  not  been  able  to  visit 
this  crannog,  but  Alexander  MacHenry,  M.R.I.A.,  reported  on  it  to  the 
Royal  Irish  Academy  in  1886.  He  says  it  is  oval  in  shape,  being 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet  long  and  eighty-five  wide.  Average 
depth  of  water,  two  feet  on  the  west  and  three  feet  on  the  east  side. 
"  It  is  built  of  large  loose  blocks  of  basalt,  well  fitted  together  without 


1  is 


ig-  3- 


cement."  The  surrounding  wall  is  from  six  to  eight  feet  thick.  He 
made  extensive  excavations  in  all  parts,  but  the  only  objects  found 
were  a  rounded  flint  (probably  a  hammer),  a  worked  flint  flake,  and 
some  decayed  fragments  of  charred  bones  of  ox  and  sheep. 

LOUGHINSHOLIN. — 1  am  dependent  on  a  correspondent  for  infor- 
mation regarding  this  crannog.  Lough  Shillin,  as  it  is  now  named, 
is  still  a  lough  near  Desertmartin,  and  in  close  proximity  to  the  line 
of  railway  running  from  that  town  to  Draperstown.  It  covers  about 
a  statute  rood,  and  there  is  the  little  stockaded  island  or  crannog  in 
the  centre,  with  a  pathway  leading  to  it,  passable  in  the  dry  season  of 
the  year,  but  covered  in  winter.     The  oak  piles  can  still  be  seen,  but 


54 


CRANNOGS,  OR  ARTIFICIAL   ISLANDS. 


they  are  obscured  by  osiers.  The  lough  is  situated  in  a  boggy  or 
marshy  place.  My  informant  had  not  heard  of  anything  being 
found  in  the  island  except  a  silver  tube,  got  by  a  man  living  in  the 
locality.     Vegetables  have  been  grown  on  the  island,  and  it  has  been 


Fig.  5-  Fig-  S^- 

UScd  for  illicit  distilling.  The  tube  may  therefore  have  as  readily 
belonged  to  the  distillers  as  the  O'Lynns.  The  island  is  not  used  in 
any  way  now,  probably  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  getting  to  it  at  most 
seasons. 

Green  Lough. — The  owner  of  the  farm  on  which  this  crannog 
is  situated  is  Joseph  MacLaughlin.  It  is  near  the  road-side ;  and  I 
have  passed  it  often,  but  it  could  not  be  reached  except  by  wading. 

Trees  are   still   growing   on   it — two 

sycamores    and   three    apple-trees,  I 

am  informed.     I  asked  the  son  of  a 

neighbouring   farmer  if  any   curious 

things  had  been  found  in  the  crannog, 

and  he  said  he  never  heard  of  any, 

but  he  believed  there  was  a  "  crock  of 

goold"  buried  in  it.    I  asked  him  what 

proof  he  had  of  that,  and  he  said  he 

"heard  the  ould  people   saying  so." 

I  believe  that  the  crannogs  of  Green 

Lough   and  Loughinsholin  have  not 

been  explored. 

General  Remarks. — Having  mentioned  crannog  swords,  I  show 

one  in  fig.  7,  found  by  myself  in  an  Antrim  crannog,  but  not  in  any 

of  those  described.     It  is  twenty-four  and  a  half  inches  long,  and  in 

very  good  preservation. 

I  also  show  in  fig.  5,  $a,  two  views  of  a  small  piece  of  Samian 
ware.  It  is  the  bottom  of  a  small  vessel,  but  all  the  upper  part  has 
been  broken  off,  and  the  angles  caused  by  breaking  smoothed  by 
grinding,  so  that  the  little  hollow  bottom  forms  a  shallow  cup,  which 


Fig.  6. 


CRANNOGS,  OR  ARTIFICIAL  ISLANDS. 


55 


might  have  been  useful  to  some  lady  of  the  period  for  holding  her 
paints.  This  was  found  in  a  County  Antrim  crannog,  though  not  in 
any  of  those  I  have  described ;  but  I  think  it  bears  on  the  history 
of  Irish  crannogs  generally,  which  is  the  reason  I  draw  attention 
to  it. 

What  knowledge  we  have  of  our  crannogs  is  largely  derived  from 
chance  finds,  and  these  often  not  accurately  recorded  ;  but  even 
among  our  finds  we  have  very  good  examples  of  Late  Celtic  orna- 
ment. Britain,  however,  according  to  Sir  A.  W.  Franks,  stands 
unrivalled  in  antiquities  showing  this  style  of  ornament, 
which  is  traced  to  La  Tene  in  Switzerland.     I  would  judge  /|\ 

from  the  superiority  of  Britain  in  such  artistic  designs  that 
it  was  not  to  commerce,  or  to  the  immigration  of  a  small 
portion  of  the  La  Tene  people,  that  this  superiority  could 
be  attributed,  but  rather  to  these  artistic  folk  having  come 
in  large  numbers  to  Britain.  In  the  lake  village  of  Glaston- 
bury we  have  the  same  people  settled,  according  to  Dr. 
Munro,  about  two  centuries  before  the  coming  of  the 
Romans.  What  became  of  the  La  Tene  people?  Did 
they  become  Romanized  and  lose  their  special  kind  of  art, 
or  did  they  leave  their  homes  and  go  elsewhere,  as  they 
must  have  done  at  first  when  they  came  to  Britain  ? 
Some,  no  doubt,  remained;  some  may  have  gone  to  North 
Britain :  but  I  believe  a  large  number  came  to  this  country. 
This  small  piece  of  Roman  pottery  which  I  figure  is  as 
instructive  as  a  book.  There  must  have  been  contact,  but 
not  more  than  mere  contact,  with  the  Romans,  otherwise 
we  would  have  more  examples  of  Roman  art  and  orna- 
ments. I  believe  the  invasion  of  Britain  by  the  Romans 
was  the  signal  for  a  British  invasion  of  Ireland.  Our 
numerous  crannogs  would  show,  I  think,  that  the  immi- 
gration was  large.  Dr.  Munro  says  it  is  suggested  that 
the  products  of  the  La  Tene  culture  and  civilization  spread 
to  Ireland  "by  means  of  commercial  and  social  intercourse,  rather 
than  by  the  immigration  of  a  new  race"1;  but  I  prefer  to  believe 
that  the  people  must  have  brought  it  here,  and  remained  here  them- 
selves, otherwise  we  could  not  have  had  the  marvellous  development 
of  that  special  culture,  by  the  Celtic  people,  which  took  place  after- 
wards in  metal  and  stone  and  in  illuminated  manuscripts.     I  would 

1  Prehistoric  Scotland,  p.  277. 


56         SIR   ARTHUR  CHICHESTER,   LORD    DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

date  the  British  invasion  of  IrelanJ  by  the  British  people  of  La  Tene 
origin  at  the  very  bsginning  of  ttis  Christian   era. 

Before  concluding,  I  would  again  draw  attention  to  the  favourable 
state  for  investigation  of  some  of  the  crannogs  I  have  described.  The 
farmers  in  wh^se  Unds  they  are  situated  offer  no  hindrance  to 
amateur  explorers,  and  I  believe  would  give  facilities  to  societies  of 
antiquaries  or  other  public  bodies  who  would  undertake  to  explore 
them  in  a  scientific  manner,  and  deposit  the  finds  in  public  museums. 
There  should  be  sufficient  energy  and  enterprise  among  Dublin  or 
Belfast  societies  to  have  a  work  of  this  kind  carried  out. 


Sir  Arthur  Chichestert  Lord  Deputy  of 

Ireland* 

With  some  Notes  on  the  Plantation  of  Ulster. 

By  Francis  Joseph  Bigger,  m.r.i.a. 

(  Continued  from  page  12.) 


THE  traditionary  account  of  these  transactions,  which  existed 
among  several  families  and  in  various  localities,  has  been  fully 
borne  out  and  corroborated  by  the  Montgomery  and  Stewart 
Manuscripts — two  collections  of  much  historical  value  and  importance. 
The  former  were  compiled  from  family  documents  by  William 
Montgomery  of  Greyabbey,  a  grandson  of  Hugh  Montgomery  of 
Braidstane ;  and  the  latter  were  written  by  Andrew  Stewart,  for 
many  years  Presbyterian  minister  at  Donaghadee.  The  compiler  of 
the  Montgomery  Manuscripts  enters  very  minutely  into  the  many 
negotiations  respecting  Con's  lands  which  passed  between  his  ancestor 
of  Braidstane  and  King  James,  between  Hamilton  and  the  King,  and 
between  all  these  three  parties  separately  and  O'Neill.  The  writer  of 
the  Stewart  Manuscripts  presents  Chichester  to  posterity  in  his  true 
colours,  as  making  a  most  villainous  attempt  to  take  Con  O'Neill's 
life  on  a  false  charge  of  treason,  that  he  might  get  possession  of  his 
estates.  Stewart,  when  mentioning  this  attempt,  further  declares  that 
Con  was  saved  only  by  a  special  interposition  of  Providence. 

At  the  time  of  Elizabeth's  death,  although  Chichester  had  amply 
done  his  part  of  the  clearing  process  for  the  Plantation,  there  came  a 


SIR  ARTHUR  CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OK   IRELAND.        $J 

hitch  in  the  business  which  he  with  all  his  sagacity  had  not  been  able 
to  foresee.  Had  the  Queen  lived  but  a  little  longer,  the  work  so  well 
known  as  the  Plantation  would  have  gone  rapidly  forward,  and  her 
devoted  servitors  in  Ulster  would  have  had  their  rewards  without 
further  delay.  But  it  somehow  happened  that  the  Irish  leaders  could 
not  be  induced  to  surrender  until  the  closing  hours  of  Elizabeth's  life, 
and  then  the  whole  aspect  of  affairs  suddenly  changed.  Her  successor 
required  all  his  wisdom  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  his  position.  The 
servitors  had  not,  as  yet,  formally  demanded  any  lands ;  but  it  was 
known  that  the  whole  Irish  nation  was  hesitating  whether  it  would 
accept  the  Scottish  king  as  its  sovereign.  To  escape  any  trouble  from 
this  quarter,  James  made  haste  to  proclaim  a  free  pardon  and  re-grants 
of  their  lands  to  all  Irish  subjects  who  had  been  at  war  with  England 
during  the  preceding  seven  years,  and  he  could  hardly,  just  at  first, 
have  done  otherwise,  for  he  had  always  hitherto  encouraged  the  Ulster 
lords  in  resisting  Elizabeth  :  indeed  there  was  a  tacit  treaty  of  friend- 
ship and  peace  between  him  and  them  from  the  time  of  his  accession 
to  the  Scottish  throne.  The  wisdom  of  James,  however,  was  largely 
mere  duplicity,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  practise  it  unsparingly 
towards  friends  or  foes.  The  pardon  he  thus  proclaimed  to  the  Irish 
was  conditional,  at  least  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  and  their  restora- 
tion to  their  estates  was  merely  nominal,  as  it  soon  afterwards  suffi- 
ciently appeared.  The  angry  mutterings  of  the  disappointed  servitors 
soon  became  distinctly  menacing,  and  to  allay  the  rising  storm  the 
King  was  quite  prepared  to  reverse  his  policy  to  the  Irish ;  and  in  1604, 
the  year  after  his  accession  to  the  English  throne,  he  raised  Chichester 
— the  then  recognised  champion  of  plantation — to  the  office  of  Lord 
Deputy. 

Before  his  elevation,  however,  to  the  supreme  place  of  authority  in 
Ireland,  he  had  thoroughly  fulfilled  the  terms  of  his  mission  in  the 
north.  As  Governor  of  the  two  Clannaboys  he  was  not  obliged  to 
take  any  part  in  the  general  fighting  against  the  Irish  forces  through- 
out Ulster,  at  least  beyond  the  limits  of  the  territories  now  named  ; 
and  as  Brian  Mac  Art  O'Neill  had  drawn  thence  all  the  able-bodied 
men  to  assist  in  recruiting  the  armies  of  the  Earls  of  Tir-owen  and 
Tirconnell,  Chichester  and  his  picked  men  had  only  to  make  war  on 
the  non-combatants  and  the  women  and  children  north  and  south  of 
the  Lagan.  In  doing  this  work,  he  adopted  a  regularly  arranged 
system,  which  he  explains  in  two  letters  that  have  fortunately  seen  the 
light,  and  are  printed  in  an  article  which  the  late  William  Pinkerton 


58         SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

carefully  prepared  for  vol.  v  of  the  old  Ulster  Journal  of  Archeology, 
although,  strange  to  say,  it  would  seem  that  the  originals  from  which 
he  copied  these  letters  have  since  disappeared  from  their  places 
amongst  the  State  Papers. 

Chichester's  method  of  procedure  was  simply  to  do  away  with  the 
helpless  Irish  inhabitants  by  every  means,  fair  and  foul ;  but  as  the 
"  sword  killed  no  multitudes,"  from  the  fact  that  they  ran  away  and 
concealed  themselves  in  bogs  and  woods,  instead  of  standing  patiently 
to  be  slain,  he  preferred  generally  to  employ  the  agencies  of  famine 
and  pestilence  for  their  utter  destruction.  He  writes :  "  I  spayre 
nether  house,  corne,  nor  creature,  .  .  .  sparing  none  of  what  quality, 
age,  or  sex  soever  ;  beside  many  burned  to  death,  we  kill  man,  woman, 
child,  horse,  beast,  and  whatsoever  we  find."  He  slew  all  four-footed 
animals  in  their  farmyards,  burned  the  stacks  of  grain,  and  in  the 
spring-time  mowed  down  the  growing  crops.  A  very  few  seasons  of 
this  treatment  brought  about  the  results  so  eagerly  desired,  and  effect- 
ually cleared  the  lands  of  encumbrance  standing  in  the  way  of  future 
settlers.  Fuller,  the  author  of  a  book  on  what  he  is  pleased  to  term 
"  English  Worthies,"  boasts  of  the  way  in  which  Chichester  had 
ploughed  up  the  barbarous  Irish,  and  cleared  their  lands  for  the 
reception  of  better  seed.  An  English  pamphleteer  named  Gainsford 
is  jubilant  over  Chichester's  method  of  searching  the  shores  of  Lough 
Con — meaning  Cuan,  the  Irish  name  ofStrangford  Lough — and  all  its 
islands,  in  pursuit  of  their  Irish  owners  or  other  refugees. 

In  Upper  or  Southern  Clannaboy  there  were  no  inhabitants  to  be 
found  after  Chichester's  governorship  had  ended,  excepting  a  miser- 
able remainder  of  Con  O'Neill's  tenants;  and  when  the  Scottish  settlers 
arrived  from  Ayrshire  with  Sir  Hugh  Montgomery,  there  were  only 
thirty  smoking  chimneys  to  be  found  in  the  three  parishes  of  New- 
townards,  Grey  abbey,  and  Donaghadee.  The  Irish  had  hidden 
themselves  in  great  numbers  among  the  islands  of  Strangford  Lough 
and  the  extensive  woods  then  covering  the  upper  barony  of  Castle- 
reagh,  but  they  were  hunted  there  like  wild  beasts,  and  the  few  that 
escaped  Chichester's  "  picked  men "  were  devoured  by  wolves.  In 
Lower  Clannaboy  there  were  twenty-one  sub-territories  containing 
vast  tracts  of  the  finest  lands  in  Ulster,  and  inhabited  by  a  very 
numerous  population,  but  Chichester  left  it  desolate,  except  in  places 
where  certain  O'Neills  and  O'Haras,  who  had  made  their  peace  with 
Elizabeth's  Government,  were  able  to  retain  a  few  tenants.  Some  of 
the  inhabitants  fled  along  the  eastern  and  western  shores  of  Lough 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTV   OF   IRELAND.         59 

Neagh,  but  only  the  merest  sprinkling  of  them  survived,  and  none 
of  them  were  ever  known  to  return  to  their  abandoned  homesteads. 
A  well-known  chronicler,  named  Fynes  Moryson,  occasionally  accom- 
panied Chichester's  troop  when  engaged  in  raiding  over  the  country, 
and  in  his  chronicle  are  preserved  many  horrible,  but  authentic,  state- 
ments. 

As  they  rode  from  place  to  place  they  found  the  waysides  strewn 
with  the  dead  bodies  of  such  as  had  perished  from  hunger — their  lips 
smeared  with  the  green  juices  of  the  herbs  on  which  they  had  been 
endeavouring  to  sustain  life,  and  their  faces  all  upturned  as  if  appeal- 
ing to  heaven  for  protection  and  mercy.  If  the  troopers  chanced  to 
halt  for  a  time  here  or  there,  they  were  surrounded  by  swarms  of  old 
men  who  had  the  appearance  of  spectres,  but  who  had  strength  to 
make  an  expiring  effort  for  life,  by  crawling  secretly  around  one  or 
two  of  the  horses  whilst  feeding,  and  thrusting  long  sharp  iron  pins 
into  their  bodies  at  places  where  the  wounds  could  not  be  observed. 
The  horses  soon  became  ill,  and  had  eventually  to  be  left  by  their 
riders,  affording  food  for  such  as  were  permitted  to  share  thereof.  At 
one  place  Chichester  and  his  men  found  a  number  of  women  around 
a  great  fire  in  a  wood,  where  they  had  been  living  on  the  bodies  of 
children  whom  they  had  caught  and  cooked  before  eating  them.  In 
another  locality  they  saw  children  keeping  themselves  alive  by  eating 
the  intestines  of  their  dead  mother.  Indeed  such  horrible  scenes  must 
have  been  common  at  that  time  everywhere  throughout  Upper  and 
Lower  Clannaboy ;  but  a  brief  period  obliterated  every  trace  thereof 
from  the  fields  and  woods,  and  they  were  soon  forgotten  in  the  great 
plantation  that  followed  ;  but,  after  all,  the  evil  results  come  sooner  or 
later  to  surprise  and  afflict  posterity.     A  great  poet  has  truly  said — 

Desolation  is  a  delicate  thing : 

It  walks  not  on  the  earth,  it  floats  not  in  the  air, 
But  it  treads  with  silent  footsteps,  and  fans  with  silent  wing 

The  tender  hopes  which  in  their  hearts  the  best  and  gentlest  bear ; 
Who,  soothed  to  false  repose  by  the  fanning  plumes  above 

And  the  music-stirring  motion  of  its  soft  and  busy  feet, 
Dream  visions  of  aerial  joy,  and  call  the  monster  Love, 

And  wake  and  find  the  shadow  Pain,  as  he  whom  now  we  greet. 

It  is  fortunate  for  the  cause  of  historical  truth  that  even  two  of 
Chichester's  letters,  explanatory  of  his  system  for  the  destruction  of 
the  Irish  inhabitants,  were  preserved;  for  these  letters,  when  taken  in 
connection  with  the  evidence  of  Fynes  Moryson  and  others  above 
named,  and  more  especially  of  the  jurors  at  the  Inquisition  held  in 


6o         SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

Antrim  in  July  1605,  truly  account  for  the  fact  that  there  are  so  few 
of  the  old  Irish  race  in  the  counties  of  Antrim  and  Down  as  compared 
with  the  other  counties  of  Ulster. 

Before  proceeding  to  review  certain  doings  of  Chichester  as  Lord 
Deputy  of  Ireland,  it  will  be  necessary  to  notice  his  conduct  in  con- 
nection with  the  tragic  death  of  Sir  James  MacDonnell  of  Dunluce. 
The  latter,  until  the  death  of  his  father,  Sorley  Boy,  in  1 590,  had  lived 
much  at  the  Scottish  Court,  where  he  had  been  knighted  by  James  VI. 
(afterwards  James  I.  of  England),  and  where  he  had  imbibed  his  hatred 
of  Queen  Elizabeth's  policy  in  Ulster.  His  immovable  attitude  of 
neutrality,  even  after  the  battle  of  Altfracken,  had  become  intolerable, 
if  not  to  the  Government,  at  least  to  its  many  emissaries  and  officials 
then  in  Ulster.  Sir  James  inherited  an  immense  estate,  containing 
upwards  of  330,000  acres,  confirmed  by  charter  to  his  father  by  Eliza- 
beth herself  in  the  year  1586  ;  and  Sir  James  was  now,  as  these  officials 
supposed,  the  only  hindrance  in  the  way  of  the  Route  and  Glynns 
being  confiscated  and  added  to  the  other  lands  in  the  county  of 
Antrim  for  plantation  purposes.  If  he  would  only  join  with  the  rebel 
lords,  it  was  argued,  he  might  soon  be  got  out  of  the  way,  and  after 
him  the  field  was  clear,  for  his  children  were  very  young  and  believed 
to  be  illegitimate,  and  all  his  younger  brothers  held  commands  in  the 
rebel  armies. 

Here,  then,  was  a  case  worthy  the  best  consideration  of  the  Deputy ; 
and  to  nerve  his  arm,  it  was  never  to  be  forgotten  that  MacDonnell 
had  defeated  in  battle,  and  afterwards  decapitated,  the  late  Governor 
of  Carrickfergus,  the  brother  of  the  then  all-powerful  Sir  Arthur 
Chichester.  Indeed,  if  Sir  Arthur  himself  did  not  originally  suggest 
the  assassination,  he  cordially  assisted  in  having  it  accomplished,  by 
watching  the  movements  of  the  actual  performers,  and  communicating 
between  them  and  their  employers  in  England.  Chief  among  the 
latter  was  Robert  Cecil,  afterwards  first  Earl  of  Salisbury,  who,  during 
the  last  forty  years  of  his  life,  was  Queen  Elizabeth's  right-hand  man 
on  all  questions  of  domestic  policy,  and  her  special  prompter  in  all 
dealings  with  Ireland  and  the  Irish.  Although  generally  very  reticent 
about  himself  and  his  doings,  he  once  incautiously  declared  that  he 
would  willingly  sell  even  his  shirt,  if  necessary,  to  have  Shane  O'Neill 
poisoned;  and  he  actually,  but  without  success,  twice  attempted  the 
secret  assassination  of  that  Ulster  prince  through  the  agency  of  a 
villainous  Englishman  named  Smith.  His  son,  Robert  Cecil,  was  the 
true  representative  of  such  a  sire,  and  he  was  Chichester's  principal 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,    LORD   DEPUTY    OF   IRELAND.        6 1 

English  correspondent  during  the  crisis  at  Dunluce,  and  indeed  always 
afterwards,  so  long  as  the  latter  acted  as  Lord  Deputy. 

On  an  April  evening  in  the  year  1601  a  little  coasting  vessel  glided 
quietly  into  the  old  landing-place  in  front  of  the  town  of  Ballycastle, 
which  was  known  as  Bunnamargie,  and  which  extended  from  Castle 
Hill  southward  to  the  hill  above  the  present  Margie  Bridge,  the  river 
then  winding  through  the  town  and  falling  into  the  sea  exactly  at  the 
point  now  known  as  the  head  of  the  outer  dock.  At  this  place  two 
men  left  the  vessel  and  went  on  shore,  but  not  before  being  challenged 
by  the  guard  belonging  to  an  armed  fort  which  stood  at  a  little  dis- 
tance above  the  landing-place.  The  names  of  the  two  men,  who  had 
come  from  Scotland,  although  they  had  been  commissioned  in  England, 
were  Douglas  and  Linn,  and  they  had  arrived  on  some  pretended 
errand  to  Sir  James  MacDonnell.  Without  any  delay  in  Bunnamargie, 
they  journeyed  westward  through  the  little  towns  of  Ballycastle,  Ballin- 
toy,  Dunseveric,  and  Ballintrea,  and  took  temporary  lodgings  in  the 
town  of  Dunluce,  wherein  many  of  their  countrymen  had  previously 
settled.  They  had  easy  access  to  the  castle,  and  soon  afterwards  the 
lord  of  the  castle  lay  dead — his  death  occurring  on  the  morning  of 
Easter  Sunday,  a  short  time  after  the  two  villains  had  taken  their 
departure  from  Dunluce. 

When  Sir  James,  who  had  been  so  troublesome  and  so  much  in 
the  way,  had  been  finally  laid  at  rest  in  the  old  abbey  of  Bunnamargie, 
and  at  a  time  when  all  the  leaders  of  the  Antrim  Scots  were  absent 
from  the  Route  with  the  Irish  forces  at  Kinsale,  Chichester  and  his 
merry  men  ventured  for  their  first  and  last  raid  over  the  northern 
boundary  of  Lower  Clannaboy,  and  as  far  almost  as  Dunluce  Castle. 
His  objects  on  that  occasion  were  simply  twofold;  namely,  to  drive  off 
cattle  for  provisioning  the  garrison  at  Carrickfergus,  and  to  spy  the 
lands  of  the  historical  and  attractive  Route.  His  predatory  impulses 
were  no  doubt  amply  gratified  on  that  occasion,  for  the  Route  was 
always  noted  for  its  abundant  flocks  and  herds  ;  and  he  had  thus, 
during  that  incursion,  the  best  opportunity  of  visiting  the  Bann,  as  it 
glided  smoothly  and  majestically  along  its  meadow  lands,  and  also 
the  Bush,  of"  bursting  torrents,"  hurrying  rapidly  to  the  sea  ;  and  what 
was  more  to  the  point,  he  was  able  to  traverse  the  vast  arable  plains 
bounded  by  those  two  rivers  on  the  east  and  west.-  On  his  return 
journey  he  found  several  of  the  passes  leading  from  the  Route  into 
Lower  Clannaboy  swarming  with  armed  Scots,  who,  having  no  leaders, 
wisely  retreated  as  his  troopers  advanced.     So  soon  as  he  reached 


62  SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

Carrickfergus,  he  penned  one  of  the  infamous  letters  already  referred 
to,  complaining  that  the  "sword  killed  no  multitudes,"  because  the 
natives  would  not  wait  to  be  killed,  and  then  explaining  his  method 
of  dealing  with  the  runaways.  About  the  same  time  also,  or  when 
all  the  Irish  leaders  had  gone  southward  on  a  forlorn  hope  to  Kinsale, 
Chichester  made  a  raid  along  the  western  shore  of  Lough  Neagh, 
crossing  the  Bann  at  Toome,  traversing  parts  of  Derry  and  Tyrone, 
and  desolating  the  country  nearly  as  far  as  Dungannon.  On  his  return 
he  wrote  the  other  letter  above  mentioned,  boasting  of  what  he  con- 
sidered a  great  achievement,  in  which  he  had  spared  neither  age  nor 
sex,  nor  four-footed  animal,  nor  any  food  that  could  be  burned  or 
otherwise  destroyed. 

But  he  was  doomed  to  another  signal  disappointment  as  to  the 
territories  of  the  Route  and  Glynns ;  for  whilst  he  and  his  associates 
felt  certain  that  Sir  James  MacDonnell  (in  their  opinion)  had  left  no 
legitimate  heirs,  and  as  all  his  younger  brothers  were  in  arms  against 
the  Queen,  these  great  and  most  desirable  estates  would  certainly  be 
confiscated  for  Plantation  purposes.  But  Randal  MacDonnell,  the 
next  younger  brother  to  Sir  James,  on  hearing  that  Chichester  had 
been  in  the  Route,  and  knowing  that  the  Scottish  king  must  soon 
succeed  to  the  English  throne,  suddenly  surrendered  to  the  Crown, 
and  had  the  good  fortune  to  have  his  surrender  graciously  accepted. 
Randal,  who  became  a  terrible  thorn  in  Chichester's  side,  was  known 
as  Randal  Arranach,  from  his  having  been  fostered  in  the  Scottish 
island  of  Arran.  He  had  been  for  several  years  a  personal  friend  of 
James  VI.,  and  when  visiting  Ulster  had  brought  the  King  many  liberal 
presents  of  peregrine  falcons  from  the  nests  in  Raghery  and  from  that 
bird's  several  well-known  haunts  along  the  cliffs  on  the  Antrim  coast. 

The  King,  on  becoming  James  I.  of  England,  received  Randal 
Arranach  literally  with  open  arms,  or  rather  we  should  say  Sir  Randal 
MacDonnell,  for  he  had  already  received  knighthood  from  Lord 
Mountjoy,  and  in  the  very  presence  of  Chichester  himself.  The  latter 
soon  afterwards  heard,  with  absolute  disgust,  if  not  dismay,  that  the 
new  King  was  about  to  re-grant  to  Sir  Randal  the  entire  family  estates 
as  they  had  been  held  by  his  father,  Sorley  Boy,  and  his  then  recently 
deceased  brother,  Sir  James  MacDonnell. 

Thus  Chichester  lost  all  hold  and  hope  on  the  four  baronies  of 
Carey,  Kilconway,  Dunluce,  and  Glenarm — a  loss  which  never  ceased 
to  call  forth  from  him  very  plain  expressions  of  indignation  and  regret. 
His  letters  often  have  reference  to  Sir  Randal's  position  in  the  county, 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY  OF   IRELAND.        63 

and  literally  bristle  with  rage  that  a  person  so  really  disaffected  and 
rebellious  (as  Chichester  pretended  to  believe)  should  have  such  im- 
mense landed  possessions,  and  consequently  so  many  opportunities  of 
giving  trouble  and  alarm  to  the  State.  But  there  was  no  help  for  it, 
as  the  King  stood  stoutly  by  his  kinsman  and  friend,  Sir  Randal ;  and 
the  latter  was  indeed  the  only  native  landowner  whom  James  I.  did 
not  desert  when  Chichester  gave  the  word  of  command.  The  Lord 
Deputy  was  all-powerful  in  every  other  case.  Being  thus,  however, 
finally  shut  out  of  the  Route  and  Glynns,  as  he  had  previously  been 
refused  admittance  to  Upper  Clannaboy,  he  and  his  officers  appear  to 
have  concentrated  their  affections  on  Lower  Clannaboy,  and  for  many 
of  their  descendants  it  proved  a  goodly  heritage. 

No  sooner  had  Chichester  become  Lord  Deputy  than  he  was 
absorbed  in  the  grand  problem  of  Plantation :  and  where  could  the 
solution  be  attempted  more  naturally  or  auspiciously  than  on  lands 
which  he  had  so  thoroughly  cleared  and  planted  with  servitors  or 
military  officers  who  had  themselves  assisted  in  making  the  clearance? 
Accordingly,  in  1605,  the  year  after  his  elevation,  he  had  an  Inquisition 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  boundaries,  ownership,  and  condition 
generally  of  the  lands  in  Lower  Clannaboy.  This  Inquisition  met  at 
the  town  of  Antrim  on  the  12th  of  July,  under  the  presidency  of 
William  Parsons,  the  Surveyor-General  of  Ireland,  one  of  the  success- 
ful adventurers  concerned  in  the  Ulster  Plantation.  The  first  discovery 
made  by  the  jurors  on  that  occasion  was  that  Queen  Elizabeth  was 
seized  as  of  fee,  in  right  of  her  Crown  of  England,  of  all  manors,  castles, 
lands,  and  other  hereditaments  in  the  lower  part  of  the  territory  of 
Clannaboy,  called  Lower  Clannaboy,  in  the  county  of  Antrim.  This 
great  territory  contained  the  following  sub-territories  ;  viz.,  Feigh,  or 
Faigh,  west  of  Lough  Neagh  and  the  river  Bann,  having  within  it  the 
parish  church  of  Duneane  and  a  lake  called  Loughdireare,  in  which  is 
a  fortified  island  ;  2,  Muinter  Rindy,  the  country  of  "  the  race  or  tribe 
of  Rindy  " — probably  Rennie — eastward  of  Lough  Neagh,  and  having 
within  it  the  parish  church  of  Drumowlagh,  the  site  of  the  abbey  of 
Kells  and  appurtenances,  the  castle  of  Edendoughcarric  (Shane's 
Castle)  and  a  lake  called  Loughernegilly,  in  which  is  a  fortified  island  ; 
3,  Muinter  Callie,  or  "  country  of  the  race  of  Kelly,"  eastward  of  the 
Bann,  and  having  within  it  the  parish  church  of  Hawhohill  (Ahoghill) 
and  a  lake  called  Loughtoman,  in  which  is  a  fortified  island  ;  4, 
Clinaghertie,  north  of  the  Owen  Glan  Rawre  (the  River  Ravel),  lying 
along  the  boundary  between   Lower  Clannaboy  and  the  Route,  and 


64         SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

within  it  is  a  chapel  called  Killocan  Reola  (Kilconriola)  and  a  lake 
called  Loughinchfeaghny,  in  which  is  a  fortified  island  ;  5,  Muinter 
Murrigan,  the  country  of  "  the  race  of  Murrigan,"  lying  along  the 
boundary  between  Lower  Clannaboy  and  the  Glynns,  and  having 
within  it  the  parish  church  of  Rathcanan  (now  Rathcavan);  6,  Maghery- 
morne,  the  "  plain  "  or  country  of  a  branch  of  the  great  clan  Morna, 
lying  along  the  high  sea  and  Loughlarne,  and  having  within  it  the 
parish  churches  of  Ballyedward  Ralowar  (now  Raloo),  Invermore 
(Larne),  and  Glinn  ;  7,  the  Fall,  or  Feola,  north-west  of  Knockfergus 
and  the  River  Lagan,  and  having  within  it  the  parish  church  of 
Dromma  (Drumbeg),  the  castle  of  Belfast  (O'Neill's),  an  old  weir  and 
other  free  fishing  of  salmon,  eels,  and  other  fish  in  the  River  Lagan  ; 
8,  Killelagh,  lying  eastward  from  Lough  Neagh,  and  having  within  it 
the  parish  church  of  Killede,  otherwise  Killelagh,  the  church  or  chapel 
of  Carnmeve  (Carnmavey),  an  old  fort  called  Dunowre,  the  site  of  the 
abbey  of  Muckmaire  (Muckamore),  the  house  of  friars  of  Masserine, 
and  the  ruinous  castle  of  Moubray,  alias  Cloughanmabree;  Moylinny, 
lying  eastward  of  Lough  Neagh  (one  of  its  boundaries  passing  near 
Edendoughcarric),  and  having  within  it  the  parish  churches  of  Moyulisk 
(Molusk),  Antrim,  Donagurr  (Donegore),  Ballycorra  (Ballycor),  Kil- 
bride, and  Racy  (Rashee) ;  9,  Keart,  having  within  it  the  parish  church 
of  Ballaclogg  (Ballyclug),  and  enclosed  by  Muinter  Murrigan,  Clinagh- 
ertie,  Muinter  Callie,  and  Muinter  Rindy ;  Ballylinny,  lying  south  of 
the  Sixmile  Water,  and  having  within  it  the  parish  churches  of  Ballin- 
lini  (Ballylinney),  Amogalle  (Umgall),  Templeton,  or  Templepatrick, 
Ballymarteene,  Ballywatter,  and  stone  ruins  called  Carngranay ; 
Braden  Island  (Broadisland),  lying  northward  from  Knockfergus  Bay, 
and  having  within  it  the  parish  churches  of  Kilreigh,  Kilroot,  and 
Templecoron. 

Besides  the  sub-territories  above  named,  there  were  found  also  in 
Lower  Clannaboy  several  parcels  of  land  called  Cinaments,  a  rendering 
of  the  old  French  word  Tinamcnts,  of  which  the  following  is  a  list : 
I.  One  such  adjoining  Belfast  was  so  large  as  to  be  known  as  the 
Tuogh  or  sub-territory  tenement,  and  within  it  was  the  parish  church 
of  Semukill  (Shankill),  to  which  belonged  the  chapels  of  Killpatrick 
in  Malone,  Killonymia,  Cloghmy,  Costahy  of  Ballyvaston,  and 
Tullerusk.  2.  Killmacavet,  more  anciently  known  as  Trianfad,  "  the 
long  third,"  implying  some  very  remote  arrangement  of  the  lands  in 
this  district,  within  which  is  the  parish  church  of  Kilmachevet,  and  an 
ancient    fort   called    Altnacur.      3.    Knockboynabrade   lies   along   the 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.        65 

boundary  southward  between  the  Glynns  and  Lower  Claneboy,  and  in 
it  is  the  parish  church  of  Squire.  4.  Duoghconnor  also  lies  southward 
of  the  general  boundary  between  the  Glynns  and  Lower  Claneboy, 
and  within  it  is  the  parish  church  of  Connor.  5.  Ballinowre  (Ballynure) 
also  lies  south  of  the  general  boundary  between  the  Glynns  and 
Lower  Claneboy,  and  in  it  is  the  parish  church  of  Ballinower ;  on  its 
western  boundary  are  the  ruined  walls  called  Bruslee,  and  the  three 
stones  called  Slewnetrew,  Carntall,  Monklande.  Carnemony  and 
Island  Magie  lie  northward  of  Knockfergus  Bay,  and  their  eastern 
boundary  passes  the  waterfall  of  Fasserineagh,  or  the  Dares  lands,  an 
old  stone  building  called  Cloghanoghertie,  Silver  Stream,  and  Owen- 
glass  Abreedan,  or  Fourmile  Water ;  in  the  tenement  of  Carnemony 
there  is  the  parish  church  of  Ciull.  6.  Dirrevologie  lies  south  of  the 
Lagan,  and  its  eastern  boundary  passes  the  hill  called  Castle  Robin  ; 
in  it  are  the  parish  churches  of  Lambeg  and  Dirreraghie.  7.  Clandermot 
is  a  small  tenement  enclosed  by  Killultagh,  Kilmachevet,  the  sub- 
territory  of  Fall,  and  the  large  tenement  adjoining  Belfast. 

All  these  lands  as  above  named — sub-territories  and  tenements — 
are,  with  very  few  and  slight  exceptions,  found  by  the  Inquisition  of 
1605  to  be  waste :  this  very  significant  term  meaning  utterly  desolate 
and  entirely  empty  of  inhabitants.  One  curious  exception,  however, 
was  the  tenement  known  as  Island  Magee,  which,  even  then,  was 
crowded  by  a  contented  and  industrious  population  composed  of 
English  and  Scotch,  of  Magees  from  the  Rinns  of  Isla,  and  of  settlers 
who  had  come  in  1572  with  the  Earl  of  Essex  and  his  would-be 
planters  in  the  county  of  Antrim.  These  would-be  planters  very 
quickly  found  it  convenient  to  clear  out  before  Sorley  Boy  ;  but  some 
settlers  were  unable  to  return  to  England,  and  had  thus  to  rough  it  as 
best  they  could  among  the  wild  Irish  and  the  hardy  Scots.  In  that 
expedition  came  the  redoubtable  Moses  Hill  as  a  lieutenant,  accom- 
panied by  several  settlers  of  his  own  name  ;  and  the  latter  appear  to 
have  made  their  way  at  once  from  Carrickfergus,  where  Essex  landed, 
into  Island  Magee,  as  if  thus  guided  by  some  agricultural  instinct  to 
one  of  the  best  farming  nooks — if  not  the  very  best — in  the  county* 
The  Magees  had  been  brought  there  some  time  previously  under  the 
auspices  of  Sorley  Boy,  but  the  island  had  room  for  additional 
dwellers ;  and  the  English  and  Scots,  to  the  credit  of  their  memory 
be  it  recorded,  fraternized  from  the  very  first  day  of  their  meeting. 
Indeed,  it  is  a  family  tradition,  both  among  the  Magees  and  the  Hills, 
that  there  was  then  formed  a  mutual  agreement — never  afterwards 
E 


66  THE    DIALECT   OF    ULSTER. 

violated  or  forgotten — to  assist  and  shelter  each  other  alternately  in 
the  political  emergencies  through  which  they  might  afterwards  be 
doomed  to  pass.  And  it  is  rather  remarkable  that  Moses  Hill  himself 
was  one  of  the  first  to  claim  shelter  and  protection  at  the  hands  of 
the  Magees  under  this  mutual  treaty  of  defence;  for  when  he  and  some 
of  the  men  under  his  command  ran  away  from  the  field  of  Altfracken, 
instead  of  returning  to  their  quarters  at  Carrickfergus,  they  made  their 
way  into  Island  Magee,  where  the  Magees  assisted  to  get  him  safely 
concealed  in  a  cave,  even  against  the  wrath  of  their  own  countrymen, 
the  Scots  in  the  Route.  Another  well-known  illustration  of  this  silent 
compact  is  recorded  in  connection  with  the  raid  made  into  Island 
Magee  by  the  soldiers  of  a  Scottish  Presbyterian  garrison  at  Carrick- 
fergus, on  a  Sunday  afternoon  in  January,  in  the  year  1641.  In  despite 
of  the  furious  remonstrances  of  Col.  Hill,  one  of  their  officers  in  com- 
mand, these  Scotchmen  hurried  away  to  attack  their  unsuspecting 
and  defenceless  victims,  some  of  whom  they  hurled  alive  over  the 
rocks  at  the  Gobans  in  that  lamentable  Sunday  afternoon's  butchery. 
However,  many  of  the  Magees  were  protected  by  several  families 
named  Hill,  who  concealed  them  in  the  most  secret  and  inaccessible 
corners  of  their  houses  and  farms. 

The  year,  at  that  period,  commenced  on  the  25th  March,  so  that 
January  was  the  third  month  after  the  commencement  of  the  insur- 
rection, 23  October,  1641. 

(  To  be  continued. ) 


The  Dialect  of  Ulster* 


ON  Tuesday,  the  1st  of  Dec,  1903,  Professor  J.  W.  Byers,  M.D., 
delivered  in  the  Belfast  Museum  a  lecture  on  the  "  Sayings, 
Proverbs,  and  Humour  of  Ulster."  The  Northern  Whig  of 
2  December  contained  a  very  full  report  of  the  paper.  Dr.  Byers 
treated  his  subject  in  a  thorough  manner — no  mere  hastily  gathered 
together  details,  but  the  work  of  many  years'  careful  collection  and 
annotation.  The  Ulster  blend,  as  described  by  Dr.  Byers,  ran  thus  : 
"  Through  his  veins  there  courses  a  stream  of  Scotch,  English,  French 
Huguenot,  and  Irish  blood  ;  and  so  in  the  same  individual  you  may 
sometimes  find  the  pluck  and  grit  of  the  Englishman,  the  tenacity 


THE   DIALECT   OF   ULSTER. 


6/ 


and  forethought  of  the  Scotch,  the  industry  of  the  Huguenot,  with  the 
keen  sympathy,  pugnacity,  and  ready  wit  of  the  native  Irishman." 
The  Ulsterisms  in  general  vogue  are  largely  mediaeval  Scotch,  with 
a  considerable  number  of  the  Gaelic.  We  consider  Professor  Byers's 
paper  a  distinct  and  valuable  contribution  to  our  local  literature,  and 
of  considerable  value  to  the  philological  student.  We  hope  to  see  it 
produced  in  a  more  permanent  form,  with  considerable  additions  and 
references  and  copious  appendices.  For  our  own  part,  we  consider 
the  following  glossary  worthy  of  reproduction  on  the  same  subject. 
It  forms  an  appendix  to  a  rare  old  volume  of  Ulster  poetry,  entitled 
Poetical  Attempts  by  Hugh  Porter,  a  County  of  Down  Weaver.  Bel- 
fast :  printed  for  Archbold  &  Dugan  by  Simms  &  Mclntyre,  Donegall 
Street.      181 3. 


A',  all. 

Aboon,  above. 

Ae,  one. 

Aff,  off. 

Aiblins,  perhaps. 

Ain,  own. 

Alang,  along. 

Amang,  among. 

Amaist,  almost. 

An',  and. 

Ance,  once. 

Ane,  one  (pronounced  yin). 

Aneath,  beneath. 

Anent,  against. 

Anither,  another. 

Auld,  old. 

Ava,  at  all. 

Awa,  away. 

Ba',  ball,  the  earth. 

Maims,  children. 

Baith,  both. 

Han,  to  swear. 

Banes,  bones. 

Bauld,  bold. 

Beet,  fuel  added  to  fire. 

Befa',  befal. 

Beuk,  book. 

Biggin,  building. 

Bit,  nick  of  time,  crisis. 

Blaw,  blow. 

Blether,  idle  talk. 

To  blink,  to  shine  by  tits. 

Bluid,  blood. 

Bony,  pretty. 

Braes,  declivity,  slope  of  a 

hill. 
Braw,  handsome,  tine,  brave. 
Brattling,  hurrying. 
Brees,  bruise. 
Brithers,  brothers. 
Brose,  porridge. 
Bun',  bound. 
Burn,  water,  rivulet. 
Busk  it,  dressed. 
Byre,  cow  stable. 


Ca',  call. 
Callan,  boy. 
Cam',  came. 
Camp,  to  struggle  for 

superiority. 
Canna,  cannot. 
Cannie,  gentle,  dexterous. 
Cantie,  merry. 
Carle,  old  man. 
Cauldrife,  chilly  or  cold. 
Chiel,  young  fellow. 
Cled,  clothed. 
Commin,  coming. 
Coof,  blockhead. 
Corlie,  to  talk  familiarly. 
Crack,  conversation. 
Croon,  a  hollow  moan. 
Crouse,  cheerful. 

Daddie,  father. 

Daft,  giddy. 

Dander,  to  walk  slowly. 

I  >eil,  devil. 

Ding,  to  worst. 

Doiled,  stupefied. 

Doon,  done. 

Douse,  sober,  wise,  prudent. 

Drap,  dtop. 

Drees,  feels. 

Dreigh,  tedious. 

Drouth,  drought. 

I  Irummock,  meal  and  water. 

Dung,  pushed,  driven. 

Ear',  early. 
E'e.  een,  eye,  eyes. 
En',  end. 
Enow,  enough. 

Fa',  fall. 

Fan',  fan'd,  found. 

Fash,  to  trouble,  to  care  for. 

Faun,  fallen. 

Faut,  fault. 

Feat,  neat,  spruce. 

Fin',  find. 


Fippence,  five  pence. 

Fisle,  bustle. 

Fit,  foot. 

Forfoughten,  fatigued. 

Forby,  beside. 

Forgie,  forgive. 

Fother,  fodder. 

Fou,  full. 

Frae,  from. 

Fretit,  fretted. 

Frien',  friend. 

Fyke,  a  fuss  about  trifles. 

Ga',  gall. 

Cade,  went. 

Gae,  go. 

Gaet,  way,  manner. 

Gane,  gone. 

Gang,  go. 

Gar,  to  make,  to  force. 

Gawn,  going. 

Gear,  riches,  goods. 

Geek,  to  toss  the  head  in 

scorn. 
Ghaist,  ghost. 
Gie,  to  give. 
Gied,  gave. 
Gien,  given. 
Gie's,  give  us. 
Giglet,  a  young  girl. 
Gin,  if,  against. 
Girts,  jerks. 
Gloamin',  twilight. 
Glour,  stare. 
Goving,  gazing. 
Gowd,  gold. 
Gowk,  cuckoo. 
Gowl,  to  howl. 
Graith,  accoutrements. 
Grane,  a  groan. 
Greet,  to  weep. 
Grin',  grind. 
Grousome,  grim. 
Grumphie,  a  sow. 
Grun',  ground. 
Guid,  good. 


68 


THE   DIALECT   OK    ULSTER. 


Gully,  a  large  knife. 
Gude,  the  Supreme  Being. 

Hae,  have. 

Haffet,  temple  or  side  of  the 

head. 
Hale,  whole. 
Hame,  home. 
Haud,  hold. 

Haun,  han',  hands,  hand. 
Haume,  home  or  dwelling. 
Haverel,  half-witted. 
He's,  he  will. 
Het,  hot,  made  hot. 
Hinches,  haunches. 
Hin'most,  hindmost. 
Hizzie,  hussey. 
Hornie,  a  name  for  the  Devil. 
Hunner,  hundred. 
Hyte,  delirious. 

I',  in. 

Ident,  diligent. 

Ilk'  or  ilka,  each,  every. 

Ithers,  others. 

Jauk,  to  trifle,  dally. 

Keek,  to  peep. 
Ken,  to  know. 
Kintra,  country. 
Kittle,  to  tickle. 
Kyte,  belly. 

Laigh,  low. 
Laith,  loath. 
Lanely,  lonely. 
Lang,  long. 
Langer,  longer. 
Lea'e,  leave. 
Lear,  learning. 
Leuk,  look. 
Lift,  sky. 
Lug,  ear. 

Mair,  more. 

Mak',  make. 

Mang,  to  make  delirious. 

Maun,  must. 

Meere,  marc. 

Men',  mend. 

Mense,  good  manners. 

Mint,  venture. 

Mither,  mother. 

Mony,  many. 

Muckle,  much. 

Na,  no,  not,  nor. 
Nae,  no,  not  any. 
Naethin',  nothing. 
Nane,  none. 
Nappy,  ale. 
Neuk,  corner. 
Nieve,  fist. 


Niffer,  exchange. 
Noo,  now. 

O',  of. 
Ony,  any. 
Ought,  anything. 
Ower,  over,  too. 

Fit,  to  put. 

Pickle,  small  quantity. 

Plevv,  plough. 

Plumpit,  plumped. 

Pou,  to  pull. 

Pow,  the  head,  skull. 

Pratoes,  potatoes. 

Pun',  pound. 

Quat,  to  quit. 

Ramstam,  thoughtless,  head- 
long. 
Raw,  row. 
Rig,  ridge. 
Rin,  to  run. 
Row,  to  roll,  wrap. 
Rowth,  plenty. 
Rung,  a  cudgel. 

Sae,  so. 

Sair,  a  sore,  to  serve. 

Sakless,  innocent. 

Sang,  a  song. 

Saul,  soul. 

Saut,  salt. 

Sel',  self. 

Selt,  sold. 

Shaw,  to  show. 

Shough,  a  ditch,  a  trench. 

Shool,  a  shovel. 

Shoon,  shoes. 

Sic,  such — sicna,  such  a. 

Siller,  silver,  money. 

Sin',  since. 

Sin,  a  sou. 

Skaith,  damage. 

Slee,  sly. 

Sleeket,  sleek,  sly. 

Sma',  small. 

Snash,  abuse. 

Snaw,  snow. 

Snig,  cut. 

Sonsie,  lucky. 

Souple,  supple,  swift. 

Souther,  solder. 

Spaul,  limb. 

Spier,  to  ask,  enquire. 

Sta',  stall. 

Stan'  or  staun,  stand. 

Stane,  stone. 

Stap,  stop. 

Sten,  jump. 

Steek,  to  shut. 


Streak,  stretch. 

Sud,  should. 

Syne,  since,  ago,  then 

Tarn,  Tom. 
Tak',  to  take. 
T'ane,  the  one. 
Tap,  top. 

Tauld  or  tald,  told. 
Teen,  anger. 
Thegither,  together. 
Thole,  to  suffer,  endure. 
Thoom,  thumb. 
Thrang,  throng. 
Till,  to. 

Timmer,  timber. 
Tinkler,  tinker. 
Tint,  spent. 
Tippence,  twopence. 
Tither,  the  other. 
Toom,  empty. 
Twa,  two. 
Twa  three,  a  few. 
Twal,  twelve. 
Twonty,  twenty. 

Unco,  strange. 

Vauntie,  boasting. 

Wab,  web  of  cloth. 

Wad,  would — a  bet,  to  bet. 

Waddin',  wedding. 

Wadna,  would  not. 

Wae,  woe,  sorrowful. 

Wakerife,  wakeful. 

Wat,  wet-    I'wat,  I  know. 

Wale,  to  choose. 

Waur,  worse. 

Wee,  little. 

Weel,  well. 

Wha,  when  -  whon,  when. 

Whanged,  cut  off. 

Whare,  where. 

Wha'se,  whose. 

Whisht,  silence,  to  be  silent. 

Whittle,  a  knife. 

Wi',  with. 

Wie,  a  little  time. 

Win',  wind. 

Winna,  will  not. 

Wingle,  wrestle. 

Wistna,  I  know  not. 

Withoutcn,  without. 

Wonner,  wondrous. 

Woodie,  a  rope. 

Wrang,  wrong. 

Ye,  frequently  used  for  thou. 
Ye's,  you  will. 
Yestreen,  yesternight. 
Yoursel',  yourself. 


The  editor  will  be  pleased  to  receive  additions  to  the  above  list. 

F.  J.  B. 


THE   FRENCH   PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    I759-I763- 


69 


The  French  Prisoners  in  Belfast, 
17594763. 


(  Continued  from  page  25. ) 


(   23   ) 

It  is  upon  thefe  principles  alone  that  we 
have  engaged  in  this  matter,  and  we  doubt 
not  but  the  fame  generous  motives  will  in- 
duce you  to  redrefs,  in  the  moll  effectual 
and  fpeedy  manner,  the  grievances  we  com- 
plain of:  And  in  order  to  this,  we  beg  leave 
to  inform  you,  that  a  Committee  of  charity 
for  the  relief  of  the  Prifoners  is  now  formed, 
compofed  of  the  Sovereign,  the  command- 
ing officer  of  this  garrifon,  and  feveral  Gentle- 
men of  this  town  ;  and  that  in  cafe  you  think 
proper  to  remit  the  whole  money  allowed 
Mr.  Stanton  to  their  fecretary  *  Mr.  Arthur 
Buntin,  merchant,  this  Committee  will  con- 
ftantly  affift  him  in  diftributing  it  to  the  Pri- 
foners, in  equal  (hares,  without  deduction, 
and  to  vifit,  and  procure  neceffaries  for  the 
fick  ;  which  will  be  the  only  fure  means  to 
render  the  Prifoners  as  happy  as  the  nature 
of  their  circumftances  can  polfibly  permit 
them  to  be. 

As  our  requeft  (if  complied  with)  will 
neceffarily  deprive  Mr.  Stanton  of  the  em- 
ployment he  now  holds,  we  cannot  omit 
giving  you  our  reafons  for  it  ;  and  we  pre- 
fume  it  will  readily  be  admitted,  that  tender- 
nefs  and  humanity,  together  with  a  confci- 
entious  regard  to  the  ftrict  rules  of  honelly 

and 

'  Mr.  WlL.  Havfv  was  firft  appointed,  but  as  he 
afterwards  declined  ferving,  Mr.  Buntin  was  nominat- 
ed in  his  room. 


(  24  ) 
and  juflice,  are  qualifications  indifpenfibly 
neceffary  in  any  perfon  charged  with  fuch  a 
truft  as  Mr.  Stanton  is  now  veiled  with,  and 
to  convince  you  that  he  has  forfeited  (as  we 
apprehend)  all  pretenfions  to  humanity  and 
honefty,  we  beg  leave,  in  order  to  enforce 
the  inclofed  remonftrance,  to  lay  before  you 
the  few  following  f.icts. 

Firft,  When  the  inhabitants  of  this  town, 
willing  to  contribute,  not  only  to  the  fafe, 
but  better  keeping  of  the  Prifoners  in  the 
barrack,  generoufly  agreed  to  take  the  fol- 
diers  from  thence  into  their  houfes ;  the 
Commifftoners  of  the  barrack-board  ordered 
Mr.  Stanton  to  contract  with  a  pavior  to  pave 
the  barrack-yard,  for  the  better  airing  of  the 
Prifoners.  Mr.  Stanton  accordingly  did  con- 
tract with  a  pavior  at  fixpence  per  yard,  a- 
mounting  in  all  to  feventy-tive  pounds,  who 
being  in  very  neceflitous  circumftances,  and 
threatned  by  his  creditors,  was  obliged,  foon 
after  the  work  was  begun,  to  apply  to  Mr. 
Stanton  for  the  fum  of  ,£12  18  4i  which 
Mr.  Stanton  (well  apprized  of  his  neceffity) 
abfolutely  refufed  to  advance  ;  until  the  poor 
wretch  perfected  a  receipt  to  him  for  ,£16 
16  7-j  thereby  allowing  him  a  premium  of 
three  guineas  :  from  whence  it  is  reafonable 
to  prefume,  he  intended  the  like  fraud  upon 
every  future  payment. 

Secondly,   Mr.   Stanton  contracted  with   a 

butcher 


Copy  of  Add.  MSS.  32,903,  F.  37. 

A  Return  of  the  Officers  made  Prisoners  of  War  of   His  Majestys  62d  Reg1  of  Foot 

Commanded  by  Majr  G1  William  Strode  at  Carrickfergus  Thursday  Feb:  21*'  1 760,  as  also 

those  Wounded. 

Belfast,  Febry  26'!'  1760. 

Lieu'.  Col?  John  Jennings. 

Cap1.  Lord  Visco'  Wallingford. 

Cap'.  Humphry  Bland. 

L'  &  Adjutant  Benjamin  Hall  slightly  wounded  in  the  Legg. 

Lieu'  Bushell  Sill. 

Ensign  Valentine  Rudd. 

Ensign  William  Mackdowall. 

Ensign  George  Jolland. 

Lieu'  Hercules  Ellis  of  Colo  Bagshaws  Reg'.  Joined  the  above  Officers  as  soon  as  the 
Drums  beat  to  Arms,  &  is  also  a  Prisoner  of  War. 

Eleven   Serjeants,  Ten    Corporals,    Five    Drummers,  &    one    Hundred    &    Sixty    two 
Private  Men  made  Prisoners  of  War.  John  Jennings  Lieu'  Colonel 

to  the  62".ti  Regiment  of  Foot. 
[Endorsed]    Copy  of  a  Return  of  the  Prisoners  of  War  at  Carrickfergus 

in  Mr  Rigby's  Letter  of  March  2?  1760. 


70 


THE   FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1759-1763. 


(  25  ) 

butcher  to  furnifli  the  Prifoners  with  beef  at 
two-pence  farthing  by  the  pound,  the  year 
round,  tho'  the  belt  may  be  contracted  for 
at  two-pence  by  the  pound,  and  bound  the 
butcher  in  a  penalty  of  one  hundred  pounds 
fieri,  to  deliver  none  but  good  and  fufficient 
beef;  and  yet  he  permits  him  to  furnifli  a 
great  part  in  coarfe,  and  fome  times  tainted 
pieces.  From  whence  it  may  be  reasonably 
prefumed,  fome  confideration  is  given,  or 
will  be  given  Mr.  Stanton,  by  the  butcher, 
for  conniving  at  the  non-performance  of  faid 
contract. 

Thirdly,  Mr.  Stanton,  without  any  confi- 
deration on  his  part,  received  twenty  guineas 
from  the  owners  of  the  (hips  hired  by  him 
to  carry  the  Prifoners  taken  on  board  Mr. 
Thurot's  fquadron  to  France;  which  af- 
fords juft  grounds  to  fufpect  fome  favours 
have  been  fhown  the  owners,  the  nature  of 
which  we  know  not,  but  apprehend  this  to 
be  a  bufinefs  of  your  enquiry. 

Fourthly,  We  have  undoubted  informa- 
tion, that  Mr.  Stanton  has  frequently,  for 
his  own  emolument,  put  Prifoners  into  the 
hofpital  upon  the  mod  frivolus  pretexts,  and 
there  kept  them  upon  half  allowance,  to 
fave  for  his  own  benefit  the  other  half.  But 
now  (many  of  us  from  our  own  knowledge 
are  convinced)  that  the  Prifoners,  for  that 
reafon,  rather  than  declare  themfelves  out  of 
D  order, 


(  26  ) 

order,  hide,  and  are  lingering  under  their 
maladies  in  their  rooms  to  avoid  a  more  hafly 
and  painful  death,  by  being  ftarved  in  the 
hofpital.  At  prefent  but  one  poor  object  re- 
mains there,  unable  to  be  removed,  elfe  he 
wou'd  be  better  with  the  other  Prifoners,  for 
he  lies  upon  a  board  without  flraw  or  fire, 
but  what  the  others  fpare  him  from  their  own, 
1  lying,  by  inches,  for  want  of  care,  and  the 
neceffaries  of  life Can  you  then,  Gentle- 
men, be  infenlible  to  fuch  wretchedncfs,  and 
the  difgrace  it  reflects  upon  thefe  countries  ? 

Fifthly,  The  French  officers  who  are  Pri- 
foners upon  their  parole,  are  treated  by  Mr. 
Stanton  with  great  inhumanity;  for  they  have 
been  refufed,  when  fick,  the  mod  trifling 
medicines,  unlefs  they  would  go  into  the 
hofpital,  a  place  unfit  for  any  creature,  but 
much  more  fo  for  a  gentleman,  by  the  want 
of  fire  and  proper  neceffaries  :  and  had  it  not 
been  for  the  charity  of  fome  Gentlemen  of 
this  town,  who  fupplied  one  of  thefe  unfortu- 
nate gentlemen  with  medicines  and  advice 
gratis,  he  might  have  died  of  his  difeafe. 

And  laftly,  We  think  Mr.  Stanton  an  im- 
proper perfon  for  the  office  he  holds,  not  on- 
ly becaufe  of  his  late  misbehaviour,  but  be- 
caufe  his  bodily  infirmities  prevent  his  necef- 
fary  attendance  upon  his  duty,  frequently 
for  months  together ;  and  to  fupply  his  ab- 
fence  he  keeps  no  mate,  but  one  of  the  Pri- 
foners, 


Copy  of  Add.  MSS.  32,903,  F.  39. 

Articles  of  Capitulation  agreed  on  between  M.  Dusoulier,  Commandant  of  the  2rl  Battalion 
of  Ortoia,  authorized  by  M:  Flobert,  Brigadier  of  the  Army  of  the  King  of  France,  Com- 
mandant in  Chief  of  fifteen  hundred  Men  ;  and  Lieut:  Colonel  John  Jennings  commanding 
His  Britannick  Majesty's  Forces  in  Carrickfergus. 

Is} — That  the  Garrison  of  Carrickfergus,  consisting  of  Lieut:  Col:  John  Jennings,  Capt: 
Lord  Viscount  Wallingford,  Capt:  Humphry  Bland,  Lieut.  Benj'.1  Hall,  Lieut:  Francis 
Bushell  Sill,  Lieut:  Hercules  Ellis,  Ensign  Valentine  Rudd,  Ensign  W"1  McDowall  and 
Ensign  George  Jolland,  together  with  eleven  Serjeants,  ten  Corporals,  five  Drummers,  and 
one  hundred  and  sixty  two  private  Men,  of  His  Britannick  Majesty's  62d  Regiment,  of  Foot, 
with  Four  of  the  Artillery,  do  remain  Prisoners  of  War,  and  they  shall  continue  in  Ireland 
upon  their  Parole,  and  not  carry  Arms  till  they  are  exchanged  for  an  equall  number  of  men, 
which  Exchange  shall  be  made  in  the  Space  of  one  Month,  or  as  soon  after  as  possibly  Ships 
can  be  got  ready  to  convey  them  to  France Agreed 

2diy — The  Castle  to  be  delivered  up  with  all  the  Stores  in  it,  but  the  Commissioned 
Officers  and  Non  Commissioned  Officers  to  have  their  Swords  returned,  and  all  the  Baggage 
belonging  to  whole  shall  be  saved Agreed 

•j<Hy— The  Town  and  County  of  Carrickfergus  neither  to  be  plundered,  nor  burnt,  nor  the 

Inhabitants   mis-used,  and   this   to   be   most   solemnly   complied    with Agreed The 

Inhabitants  furnishing   the   Provisions  which  shall  be  regulated  between  the   Mayor   and 
M.  Dusoulier. 

4^— If  any  Officer  or  Soldier  should  be  left  behind  either  wounded  or  sick,  all  possible 


THE   FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1759-I763. 


71 


(  27  ) 

foners,  who  for  acting  as  fuch,  has  an  allow- 
ance of  three-pence  a  day.  So  that  upon  the 
whole,  we  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  impoffible 
that  proper  care  can  be  taken  of  the  Pri- 
foners,  but  by  fome  fuch  method  as  we  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  propofe. 

You  are  now  Gentlemen,  qualified  to 
judge  of  the  propriety  of  continuing  this  man 
in  office.  It  only  remains  for  us  to  affure 
you,  that  your  fpeedy  interpofition  for  the 
relief  of  thefe  diftreffed  Prisoners,  will  give 
particular  fatisfaction  to,  and  extremely  o- 
blige, 

Gentlemen. 


Your  moft  humble  Servants, 


Saml.  M'  Tier  junr. 
John  Callwell 
John  Fivey 
George  Fergufon 
Saml.  M'  Tier 
John  Brown 
John  Sinclair 
John  Steward 
David  Smith 
Wm.  Stewart 
Jofeph  Wallace 
William  Harrifon 
William  Gordon 
John  Pettycrew 
George  Barkley 


1  Kurg. 


Jas.  Hamilton 

fov. 
Ar.  Byrtt 
John  Gordon    J 
John  Hay 

Thos.  Knox  Gordon 
James  Fergufon 
Robt.  Gordon 
Strickland  Lowry 
John  Dunbar 
William  Wilfon 
Hercules  Heyland 
David  Hay 
John  Smith 
John  Milford 
D  2  Robt 


28  ) 

Robt.    Harrifon 

Alexr.  Nicholfon 

David  Watfon 

Wm.  Haven 

William  Lyons 

Jos.  Stevenfon 

James  Bafhford 

James  Chambers 

Peter  Galan 

James  Archibald 

Thos.   Hyde 

John  M'  Creight 

Samuel  Stewart 

Robt.  Johnfton 

James  Hathorn 

John  Templeton 

John  M'  Cracken 

Thos.  Boyd 

Daniel  Blow 

John  Low 

Chas.  Roberts 

Robt.  Joy 

Dav.  Cunningham 

John  Brown 

Sam.  Black 

Robt.  M '  Clenaghan 

Robt.  Callwell 

Thos.  M<  Ilwean 

William  Young 

James  Thompfon 

Brice  Smith 

John  M '  Kelvey 

Sam.  Scott 

Hugh  Bonar 

Angus  Sinclaire 

John  Smith 

Alex.  Orr 

Sam.  Edmond 

Arch.  Scott 

John  Shaw 

St.  John  Main 

William  Arthur 

John  Ballentine 

George  Darley 

John  Fifher 

Thos.  Sinclair 

John  Connor 

John  Gait  Smith 

Hugh  M'  11  wean 

Hugh  M' Matter 

Robt.  Wills 

Robt.  Simm 

Ifaac  Miller 

Archd.  Hyndman 

Wm.  Hilditch 

William   Holmes 

John  Campbell 

James  Magee 

John  Arnold 

Sam.  Wilfon 

John  Bradfhaw 

John  Jackfon 

N.  B. 

Care  shall  be  taken  of  them  and  not  to  be  detained  as  Prisoners  but   shall  have  Liberty  to 

return  to  France  the  first  Opportunity  that  offers Agreed 

Signed  and  exchanged  at  Carrickfergus 
Febry  21st  1760 
DUSOULIER,   Commandant  de  Battaillon  au  Service 

du  Roi  de  France. 
John  Jennings,  L'  Col.  of  His  Britannick  Majesty's 
62mi  Regiment  of  Foot. 
Par  nous  Brigadier  des  Armees  de  S:  M:  J:  Cet  Commandant  ses  Troupes  debarquees 
a  Carrickfergus,  vue  approuvee  et  Autorisee  la   Presente  Capitulation,  dans  nion  lit  a  Cause 
<le  ma  Blessure  21  Fevrier  1760  a  Carrickfergus.  Flobert. 

[  Endorsed]    Copy  Articles    of   Capitulation  betwixt    Lieut:   Colonel    Jennings  &    Monsieur 

Dusoulier. 
Feby  2  Ist  1760. 

in  Mr  Rigby's  Letter  of  March  2d  1760. 

Copy  of  Add.  MSS.  32,903,  F.  92. 

...       .  /Eolus  in  Ramsay   Bay  the  29th  February  1760. 

I  had  the  Honor  to  write  you  on  the  26th  Inst,  off  Dublin,  but  very  incorrectly  and  in 
great  Haste,  as  I  that  Minute  had  Information  from  the  Fishermen  that  the  Enemy  were  then 
at  Carrickfergus,  I  made  all  the  Dispatch  possible  to  attack  them  there  and  got  off  the 
Entrance  of  the  Harbour  that  Evening,  but  the  Wind  being  contrary  and  blowing  very  hard, 
I  could  not  get  in.  On  the  28"1  at  4  in  the  Morning  we  got  Sight  of  them  under  Sail,  and 
gave  Chace  ;  about  Nine  I  got  up  alongside  their  Commodore,  and,  in  a  few  Minutes  after, 


72 


THE   FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    17S9~^7^3- 


(  29  ) 

N.  B.  This  re »i 011ft ranee  is  figned  by  ninty- 
one  of  the  principal  Inhabitants  of  Bel- 
fast, and  many  more  names  might  have 
been  got,  had  there  been  a  neceffity,  or  time 
to  make  application  for  them. 

The  Affidavit  of  Lieut.  Wm.  Stuart. 

[NUM.   IV.] 

WILLIAM  STUART,  lieut.  in  his 
Majefty's  fixty  fecund  Regiment  of 
Foot,  commanded  by  major-general  William 
Strode,  came  before  me  this  day,  and 
made  oath  ;  That  in  the  month  of  October 
laft  major-general  Strode  left  Belfaft  for 
England,  when  the  command  of  the  garrifon 
there  devolved  upon  lieut.  col.  Higgixsox, 
then  major  to  faid  regiment  ;  who  received 
frequent  complaint  from  the  French  l'rifoners  • 
of  War  confined  in  the  Barrack,  that  they 
were  treated  by  their  Commiffary,  mr,  Stan- 
ton, in  every  particular,  with  the  greatefl 
injuftice,  and  inhumanity.  Whereupon  the 
faid  col.  Higginson  ordered  this  deponent, 
and  every  other  officer  when  on  guard  over 
them,  to  make  him  daily  reports  of  the  truth 
of  every  particular  grievance  complained  of, 
in  order  to  their  redrefs.  And  this  deponent 
faith,  that  he  and  the  feveral  officers  that  were 
fo  charged  as  aforefaid,  did  make  daily  re- 
ports, 


(  30  ) 

ports,  agreeing  in  the  particulars  fet  forth  in 
a  letter  from  col.  Higginfon  to  the  Gentle- 
men of  Belfafl,  dated  1  ft  Jan.  1761  ;  which 
was  alfo  then  fubferihed  to  by  this  deponent, 
from  his  being  a  long  time  an  eye-witnefs  of 
the  truth  of  the  feveral  facts  contained  there- 
in, and  without  any  defign  whatfoever,  but 
in  order  to  their  redrefs.  This  deponent 
further  depofeth,  that  on  or  about  the  fourth 
day  of  faid  month  of  January,  this  deponent 
accompanied  the  Rev.  Mr.  James  Makay, 
and  Mr.  Wm.  Haven  merchant,  to  vifit  the 
hofpital  in  the  barracks,  where  one  man  lay 
to  all  appearance  very  ill,  attended  by  ano- 
ther of  the  prifoners ;  who  this  deponent  fpoke 
to  in  French  ;  and  received  for  anfwer,  that 
he  had  an  allowance  from  mr.  Stanton  of 
three-pence  per  day  ;  which  faid  Stanton  had 
not,  but  with  fome  difficulty,  paid  him,  for 
acting  as  Mate  in  the  hofpital :  And  this 
deponent  faith,  that  he  alfo  informed  him. 
that  he  had  no  inftruments  allowed  him,  and 
that  the  fick  man  there  had  no  Straw,  for  a 
confiderable  time,  to  lie  upon  ;  nor  had  not  had 
as  much  fire  as  was  fufficient  to  drefs  his  vic- 
tuals ;  and  that  he  alfo  had  not  the  neceffa- 
ries  of  life,  by  being  put  on  half  allowance  : 
wherefore  feveral  others  of  the  prifoners  who 
were  indifpofed,  concealed  their  complaints, 
to  enjoy  their  full  allowance  in  their  rooms, 
rather  than  flarve  in  the  hofpital.     All  which 

this 


the  Engagement  became  general,  and  continued  very  briskly  for  an  Hour  and  Half  when  they 
all  three  struck  their  Colours.  They  proved  to  be  the  Marshall  Belleisle  of  44  Guns  and  545 
Men,  M:  Thurot  Commander,  who  is  killed  ;  the  La  Blond  of  32  Guns  and  400  Men  ;  and 
the  Terpsichore  of  26  Guns  and  300  (including  the  Troops  in  this  Number).  I  put  in  here  to 
refit  the  Ships,  who  are  all  greatly  disabled  in  their  Masts  and  Rigging.  The  Marshall 
Belleisle  in  particular,  who  lost  her  Boltsprit,  Mizenmast,  and  Mainyard  in  the  Action,  and 
it  is  with  much  Difficulty  we  keep  her  from  sinking.  I  have  acquainted  my  Lords  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Admiralty  with  the  Particulars,  p  Express,  and  I  purpose  returning  to  some 
Port  in  England  as  soon  as  the  ships  can  possibly  be  repaired.  Subjoined  is  a  list  of  the 
killed  and  wounded.  I  am 

My  Lord, 

Your  Grace's 

Most  humble 
And  most  obedient  Servant 
J°  Elliott. 

In  His  Majesty's  Ships.  Killed  Wounded 

/Eolus 4  15 

Pallas  1    5 

Brilliant   — 11 

5  31 

By  the  best  Account  I  can  get,  the  Enemy's  killed  and  wounded  amount  to  upwards 
of  300  Men. 

[Endorsed]    .Eolus  in    Ramsay  Bay,  Feb.  29th  1760.      Copy  Lre   from  Captain  Elliott  to 
His  Grace  the  Lord  Lieutenant.      Recd  March  3d  50  Min  past   12. 
in  Mr  Rigbys  of  March   5"1   1760 

(To  be  continued.) 


THE   WARS   OF    164I    IN    COUNTY   DOWN.  73 


The  Wars  of  1641   in  County  Down. 

The  Deposition  of  High  Sheriff  Peter  Hill  (1645). 
Transcribed  and  Annotated  by  Thomas  Fitzpatrick,  ll.d. 

With  additional  Notes  by 
Right  Rev.  Monsignor  O'Laverty,  m.r.i. a.,  and  Edward  Parkinson. 

[This  remarkable  document,  which  I  have  transcribed  at  full  length  from  the  County- 
Down  volume  of  Depositions  relating  to  1641  and  subsequent  years,  throws  much  light  on 
"the  State"  tactics  of  the  time,  and  shows  clearly  enough  that  no  efforts  were  spared  to  out- 
law, at  the  very  beginning  of  the  insurrection,  every  "papist  of  value, "and  so  to  commit  them 
hopelessly  to  the  Rebellion.  The  copy  preserved  in  T.C.  D.  is  in  the  handwriting  of 
Thomas  Waring,  clerk  to  the  commissioners  appointed  to  take  the  depositions.  In  the  list  of 
outlawry  it  will  be  observed  that  the  same  name  turns  up  again  and  again;  e.g.,  "Arthur 
Viscount  Magennis"  and  "George  Russell  of  Rathmullan,"  with  several  others.  The  reason 
may  be  that  such  names  appeared  first  on  the  lists  of  the  indicted  at  different  sessions.  Hill 
mentions  five  several  sessions  by  him  held  for  such  purpose.  The  several  lists  are  in  the 
deposition  strung  together.  Hill,  it  would  appear,  was  particularly  wroth  with  his  neighbour, 
George  Russell  of  Rathmullan,  whom  he  charges  with  the  executions  at  Ballaghonery 
(Newcastle).  In  this  charge  he  is  wholly  unsupported  by  other  deponents.  There  was  a 
Russell  on  the  convoy  from  Greencastle  to  Newcastle,  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that 
any  Russell  was  more  closely  connected  with  the  tragedy. 

In  the  T.C. D.  MS.  the  names  and  addresses  are  written  in  continuous  form,  and  the 
writing  is  so  close,  in  many  parts  so  dim,  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  decipher  some  of  the 
entries.  I  have  placed  the  names  in  column  form  for  convenience  of  reading:  otherwise, 
I  give  as  accurately  as  I  can  the  deposition  as  it  has  come  down  to  us. 

I  have  collated  the  proof  with  the  original  MS.  in  T.C.  D,  (a  difficult  task  for  one 
pair  of  eyes),  and  have  done  my  best  towards  bringing  out  an  accurate  version,  but  it  were 
futile  to  pretend  that  there  are  no  doubtful  readings  in  the  List  of  the  Indicted.  The 
uncertain  and  varying  orthography,  together  with  the  worn  state  of  the  paper,  renders  it  next 
to  impossible  (in  some  places)  to  fix  upon  the  real  name,  the  seventeenth-century  scribe 
having  but  a  hazy  notion  of  the  matter  himself.  It  appears  to  me  that  the  existing  document 
was  drawn  up  by  Thomas  Waring  from  memoranda  and  lists  handed  in  by  Hill,  and  that, 
when  completed,  it  was  formally  sworn  before  Jones  and  Brereton,  two  of  the  eight 
commissioners  appointed  by  Parsons  and  Borlase  to  take  charges  (rather  than  evidence) 
against  rebels.  The  final  paragraph  seems  to  be  an  afterthought,  and  is  in  a  high  degree 
characteristic  of  the  testimony  put  forth  as  "duly  sworn.-'  Supposing  that  Hill  repeats 
correctly  what  he  heard,  the  all-important  question  remains,  How  did  Bellow  come  by  the 
story?  Was  he  also  reciting  hearsay?  or  was  he  simply  practising  on  Peter  Hill's 
gullibility?  The  deponent  has  shown  clearly  enough  that  no  story  about  the  Irish  could  be 
too  gross,  too  wildly  improbable,  for  his  acceptance.  The  hearsay  of  such  a  "witness"  surely 
stands  in  need  of  confirmation.  It  appears  from  his  own  story  that  the  forms  of  outlawry 
were  observed ;  but  the  business  was  got  through  at  high  speed — a  hundred  cases  disposed 
of  at  a  single  sessions — not  unlikely  in  a  single  day  !  ' '  But  if  he  [the  offender]  absconds, 
and  it  is  thought  proper  to  pursue  him  to  an  outlawry  .  .  .  after  the  several  writs  have 
issued  in  a  regular  number,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  respective  crimes,  without  any 
effect,  the  offender  shall  be  put  in  the  exigent,  in  order  to  his  outlawry ;  that  is,  he  shall  be 
exacted,  proclaimed,  or  required  to  surrender,  at  five  county  courts ;  and  if  he  be  required 
quinto  exactus,  and  does  not  appear  at  the  fifth  exaction  or  requisition,  he  is  adjudged  to  be 


74  THE    WARS   OF    1 64 1    IN    COUNTY    DOWN. 

outlawed  or  put  out  of  the  protection  of  the  law  .  .  .  An  outlawry  in  treason  or  felony 
amounts  to  a  conviction  and  attainder  of  the  offence  charged  in  the  indictment,  as  much  as  if 
the  offender  had  been  found  guilty  by  his  country." — Chitty's  Blackstone,  vol.  iv,  p.  319. 

Carte  {Life  of  Ormond,  i,  423)  cites  an  application  to  the  Council  from  a  relative  of  Sir 
William  Parsons,  claiming  great  merit  to  himself  for  procuring  the  indictment  (and,  in  due 
course,  outlawry)  of  some  hundreds  of  gentlemen,  he  having  spent  considerable  sums  on 
witnesses  to  procure  such  indictments. 

While  Peter  Hill  is  very  confident  in  his  assertions  about  what  should  have  occurred  at 
Newcastle  and  Lough  Reman,  although  he  did  not  see,  nor  had  he  any  personal  knowledge 
of,  what  happened  at  either  place,  it  is  instructive  to  note  that  he  appears  to  know  nothing 
about  Donaghmore,  Scarva,  Killyleagh,  Castle  Island,  or  even  Downpatrick,  places  which 
Harris  charges  with  inhuman  massacres:  and  Hill  says  he  knows  the  county  well. 

I  have  already  printed1  some  of  the  more  striking  passages.  The  late  John  V. 
Prendergast  contributed  two  excellent  articles  ("Some  Authentic  Memorials  of  Rostrevor ") 
to  the  Dublin  Xation  (24  and  31  May,  1873),  in  the  second  of  which  he  cites  Hill's 
account  of  the  Ballaghonery  tragedy,  and  the  wondrous  Ballyhornan  judgment. 

In  airing  his  own  self-importance,  Hill  lets  in  much  light  on  the  question  why  there 
should  be  deeds  of  retaliation  on  the  part  of  those  in  revolt.  At  the  same  time,  the 
deposition  serves  to  show  the  nature  of  the  "evidence"  upon  which  charges  of  massacre 
and  cruelty  against  the  insurgents  have  been  founded.  The  fault  is  not  simply  that  of 
exaggeration  ;  there  are,  besides,  unscrupulous  misrepresentation  and  distortion  in  narrative, 
much  suppression  of  fact  and  circumstance,  to  conceal  the  real  nature  of  the  occurrence, 
while  on  the  other  hand  the  deponents  were  free  to  swear  to  any  amount  of  imaginary 
particulars  about  what  should  have  occurred  in  places  where  the  witnesses  had  never  been. 
Doubtless,  much  of  the  distortion  and  omission  is  due  to  the  manipulation  of  the  examiners 
or  their  secretary.  How  many  of  those  who  have  learned  the  story  of  "The  Ballagh  "  or 
of  "Lough  Reman"  in  Harris's  View  of  the  County  JDo7unha.ve  ever  suspected  that  the 
harrowing  details  were,  in  the  first  instance,  sworn  by  a  man  who  had  no  personal  know  ledge 
of  what  he  relates.  One  of  Peter  Hill's  turn  of  mind  would  find  storytellers  to  humour  his 
fancy.     If  there  was  a  Lough  Reman  case,  the  wrong  party  was  called  to  prove  it. 

The  only  massacre  of  which  Hill  can  offer  any  real  evidence  is  described  in  his  self- 
glorifying  account  of  the  execution  by  martial  law  of  over  sixty  "notorious  rebels,"  as  he  calls 
them,  and  the  expulsion  of  many  others — incidents  which  probably  found  response  at  "The 
Ballagh,"  and  perhaps  at  other  places. 

The  relations  between  himself  and  Sir  James  Montgomery  further  illustrate  the  attitude 
and  character  of  the  deponent. — T.  F.] 

Depositions,  1641,  &c,  Co.  Down, 

Folios  30-37. 

Words  interlined  on  the  deposition  are  here  placed  within  square  brackets. 

ETER  HILL,  of  Downpatrick,  in  the  Countie  of  Downe  Esqre, 
Late  high  sherrifif  and  provost  Martiall  [in  the  begining 
of  ye  Rebellion]  of  the  same  County,  sworne  and  exa'ed 
before  his  Ma'ties  Comrs  in  that  behalf  authorized,  deposeth  and  saith, 
That  since  the  begining  of  the  present  Rebellion  and  this  time, 
and  by  meanes  and  occasion  of  the  same  Rebellion,  he  hath  bin  and 
still  is  forceibly  deprived,  robbed,  or  otherwise  dispoiled  of  the 
possession,  Rents,  &  proffitts  of  his  howses  and   buildings,  Landes, 

1  The  Bloody  Bridge,  and  other  Papers  relating  to  the  Insurrection  of  1641.  Dublin :  Sealy, 
Bryers  &  Walker,  1903.     Pages  88,  89,  133-138. 


THE   WARS   OF    1 64 1    IN    COUNTY   DOWN.  75 

tenements,  farmes,  and  hereditamts  within  the  same  Countie,  and  of 
his  howsehold  goods,  horses,  mares,  cowes,  oxen,  sheepe,  and  of  due 
debts  owing  vnto  him  by  divers  p'sons,  Wch  he  is  afraid  hee  shall  quite 
loose,  and  is  like  to  be  dampnified  by  the  Rebells  burning  and  wasting 
of  his  howses  within  the  said  County,  soe  much  that  the  same  in  all 
amounteth  to  the  sum  or  value  of  three  thousand  eight  hundred  fowre 
pownds  &  above. 

And  as  to  this  deponents  knowledge  concerning  the  persons  that 
are  or  were  Acters  in  the  same  Rebellion  and  their  bearing  Armes 
and  comitting  outrages  and  Cruelties  against  his  Ma'tie  or  his  Loyall 
protest1  subiects,  he  saith,  That  he  this  depon1  when  the  Rebellion 
began,  being  in  Dublin,  was  directed,  sent,  and  went  in  a  barque,  by 
the  comand  of  the  right  honble  the  lords  Justices  and  Councell  of 
Ireland,  wth  directions  that  if  it  were  possible  there  should  bee  a 
quartr  Sessions  sitten  within  the  said  Countie  of  Downe  for  indicting 
of  the  Rebells,  wherein  this  depon1  tooke  such  care  and  soe  farr  [did] 
hazard  himselfe  that  first  a  qu'ter  Sessions  was  at  Killeleagh  before 
divers  Justices,  when  and  where,  all  the  p'ties  Rebells  hereafter  named 
in  Writts  were  legally  indicted  before  a  Lawfull  Jurie,  then  and  there 
impannelled  and  sworne,  for  Rebellion.  And  afterwards  another 
Sessions  of  the  peace  was  sitten  alsoe  within  the  said  county,  when 
and  where  at  least  one  hundred  Rebells  more  were  alsoe  indicted,  As  by 
the  Indictmts  themselves  appeareth.  And  after  due  proseedinges  had 
upon  those  Indictmts  against  the  p'sons  hereafter  named  in  Writts,  that 
is  to  say,  in  the  XIXth  yere  of  the  Raigne  of  our  Soveraigne  lord 
King  Charles,  wheras  this  depon1  was  high  sherriff  as  aforesaid  of  the 
said  county,  severall  writts  of  exigent  were  directed  and  delivered  unto 
him  under  his  highnes  Seale  of  the  Cort  of  cheefe  place  of  the  same 
Kingdome,  all  dated,  as  he  remembereth,  on  or  about  the  15th  day  of 
May,  in  the  said  19th  yere,  against  the  severall  and  respective  p'sons  all 
of  the  said  county  of  Downe  [hereinafter  menconed]  and  returnable  in 
cro  Aiay  (?)  then  next  following,  viz1'  Against — 

James  Veldon,  of  Newry,  gent.  George  Welsh,  eldest  sonn  of  Christopher 
John  Veldon,  of  the  same,  gent.  Welsh,  of  Welshtowne,  gent. 

Edward  Veldon,  of  the  same,  gent.  Patrick  Welsh,  another  of  the  sonns  of  the 
Patrick  Dromgoole,  of  the  same,  gent.  ^  Christopher  Welsh.  and 


Arthur  Viscount  Magennis,  of  Ivagh. 


Andrew  White,  of  the  same,  gent. 

James  Laghlin,  of  the  same,  gent. 

Con   oDonnellan,  of  the  same,  gent,  and  GeorSe  Russell>  the  elder>  of  Rathmullan, 

Arthur    Magennis,   late   servant    unto  §ent- 

Valentine  Paine,  Esquire.  George  Russell,  of  Coniamstowne,  gent.  (]) 

[N.B. — The  reference  numbers  in  parentheses  are  to  the  notes  on  pp.  86-88.] 


76 


THE   WARS   OF    164I    IN    COUNTY   DOWN. 


(sic)  George  Russell,  the   elder,  or 

Rathmullan,  gent- 

George    Russell,    the    younger,    his 

eldest  son, 
Richard  oge  fritz  Ricliard,  of  Kilhride, 
James  Welsh,  of  Tullyhunion, 
William  Savage,  of  Aghlisnafm,(-) 
Willm  Gibbons,  of  Ballikenlor,(:;) 
Patrick  Magrory,  of  Clogher,  (J) 
Robert  Plunkett,  of  Portferry, 
Patrick  McCartan,  of  Loghneyland, 
Owen  McCartan,  of  Drumsnade,  ("') 
Owen  oge  McCartan,  of  the  same, 
(sic)  George    Russell,  the   elder,  of 

Rathmullan,  ,, 

George  Russell,  his  son. 
Agholey   oge    McCartan,   of  Crune- 

tumelly  (sic),  ,, 

Donell    McCartan,    son  of    the  said 

Agholey,  ,, 

James  McCartan,  of  Balliloan,('')  ,, 

Edmund  McCartan,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Conn  Magennis,  of  Dromaghliske,  (")  ,, 
Hugh  Magennis,  his  sonn,  ,, 

Phelim  McCartan,  of  Loghneyland,  ,, 
Hugh  McClimon,  of  Inch,  ,, 

Dervice  (sic)  6  Mullan,  of  the  Irriotts  (sic) 

yeom. 
Donogh  6  Mullan,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Willm.  oge  6  Kelly,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Tirlogh  6  Kelly,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Robert  Walsh,  of  Tulliskin,  gent. 

Tho:  Walsh,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Constantine  oNeill,  of  Slut  Neills,  ,, 
Phelim  McToole  oNeill,  of  Lisdalgoe,  ,, 
Henry  oNeill,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Phelim  oge  oNeill,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Brian  McQui...  oNeill,  of  Slut  Neills,  ,, 
Brian  Moder  oNeill,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Neill  Roe  6  Kelly,  of  Contineglare  (.svV^  >> 
Phelim  McOwen,  of  Dro.. .  ,, 

Willm.  Gibbons,  of  Ballekinlor,  ,, 

Henry  Edwards,  of  Ballidonnell,  ,, 

James  Russell,  of  the  same,  ,, 

George  Merriman,  of  Rosse,  ,, 

Tho:  Merriman,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Nicholas  Russell,  of  Newtowne,  ,, 

Gerald  Russell,  of  Ballivaston,  ,, 

Patrick  Russell,  of  Coniamstowne,  ,, 
James  Russell,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Jennock  Savage,  of  Ballidock,1  ,, 

John  ffitz  Simons  fiitz  William,  of  the 

same, 

1  Not  on  the  census   list   of  townlands 
frequently  now  called  Ballydock. 


Patrick  ffitz  Simons,  of  the  same,  gent. 

Cormuck  Maguire,  of  Killard,  ,, 

Art  A  Neill,  of  Ballihornan,  ,, 

Robt.  Awdley,  of  Awdleystowne,  ,, 

George  Walsh,  of  Welshetowne,  ,, 

Patrick  Welsh,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Myles  Welsh,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Patrick  McRory,  of  Clogher.  ,, 

Patrick  Savage,  of  Loghmonie,  (M)  ,, 

George  Garnaun,  of  Dondrumme.  ,, 

James  Garnan,  of  the  same,  ,, 
George    Russell,    of    Rathmore,  tin' 

elder,  ,, 
George  Russell,  the  yonger,   of  the 

same,  ,, 
Constantyne    alias    Con    oNeill,    of 

Slutneales,  ,, 
John  Russell,  of  Rathmullan,  afore- 
said,                                                yeom. 

Tirlogh  offarrell,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Nichas  Gormilly,  of  the  same,  ,, 
James  oCallan,  of  the  same, 
Wm  McCraner,  of  the  same,              yeom. 

Agholy  McLey,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Ogan  oDermott,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Patrick  McGulleghan,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Willm.  McGulleghan,  of  the  same,  ,, 

Hugh  oCorran,                       do  do 

Richard  ffitz  Symons,            do  do 

Patrick  McGwyre,                 do  do 

David  Carr,  of  Sct  John's  Point,  do 

George  Carr,               do  do 

Dennice  Magean,       do  do 

Nich:is  Russell,  of  Killough,  do 

Patrick  Plunkett,         do  do 

James  Smith,               do  gent. 
Constantine  als  Con.  oNeill  {sic, 

repeated),  of  Slutneales,  do 

Phelim  McQuin,                        do  do 

Brian  McQuin  oNeale,             do  do 

Jenkin  6 Hamill,  Knocknegony, ('•')  do 

Cormuck  Hamill,                do  do 

Brian  Magill,                       do  yeom 

Rory  6  Hamill,                   do  do 

Neill  Moder  Mcllleriman,  do  do 
Gilgrome  Mcllcreeny,  Ballyregan,  (10)   do 

Cormuck  Mclllcreeny,         do  do 

Brian  Mcllcreeny,                do  do 

John  Hay,                              do  do 

Brian  6  Loghan  (sic),           do  do 

Jenkin  6  Loghan  (sic),  Ballyregan,  do 

Donald  oDenan,  of  Tullycarnan,  do 

Neill  6  Denan,                   do  do 

(1851).     Perhaps  Ballyedock,  parish   of  Dunsfort 


THE   WARS   OF    164I    IN    COUNTY    DOWN. 


77 


Henry  oCain,  of  Ballymenagh,  yeom 

Owen  oGilmer,  of  Grimshogh,  do 

Tirlogh  6  Gilmer,  do  do 

Phelim  oGilmer,  of  Monyrea,(n)  do 

Garald  fz  Simons,  of  Whitehills,  (1-)    gent 
Willm  fz  Simons,  do  do 

Redmond  Savage,  do  yeoman 

Patrick  fz  Simons,  of  Cargagh  McCale,  (1:!) 

gent 
Richard  ffitz  Simons,  do  do 

Tho:  ffitz  Simons, of  Ballynarymore,(14)yeom 
Redmond  fz  Simons,  do  do 

Brian  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Nichas  ffitz  Simons,  of  Ballyorgan,        gem 
Edmund  ffitz  Simons,  do  yeoman 

John  McHary  ffitzsimons,  of  Kilchefe,1  do 
Patrick  6  Hanlon,  do         do 

Nichas  oKanavan,  do         do 

Mawrice  oCashidy,  do         do 

Chr'ofer  f z  Simons,  of  Glasdronan,       do 
Tho.  McPierce  ffitz  Simons,  do  do 

Pierce  oge  ffitz  Simons,  do  do 

Nicholas  ffitz  Simons,  of  Mourne,         do 
Pierce  ffitz  Simons,  do  do 

Arthur  Viscount  Magennis  de  Ivagh 

{sic,  repeated),  — 

Donald  Magennis,  of  Glascorr,  Esqrc 

Rory  Magennis,  of  Loghan,'-'  Esqre 

Nichas  Mackan,  of  Downpatrick,     m'chant 
Patrick  oRony,  do  do 

Manus  oSheale,  do  do 

Edmund  oMulchallen  (sicjdo  laborer 

Tirlogh  Mcllboy,  —  do 

Henry  Stocks,  of  Downpatrick,  yeom 

Henry  Taylor,  do  do 

Tho:  ffleming,  do  do 

Laghlin  6'Morgan,         do  do 

James  Carroll,  of  Ballyclander,  do 

Cormuck  6  Carroll,  of  Lisbane,        yeoman 
Henry  oCullan,  of  Balliclander,  do 

Patrick  6  Daly,  the  elder,     do  do 

Patrick  6  Daly,  the  younger,  do  do 

Neill  6  Boyle,  do  do 

Patrick  Reagh  McGargagh, 

of  Ballitrostan(13)  (sic),   do 
Owen  McGarvagh,  do  do 

Patrick  oLenaghan,         do  do 

Patrick  Mcllboy,  do  do 


Cormuck  O'MulIeghallen,  of  the  Grang, 

yeoman 
Georg  Walsh,  of  Walshtowne,  do 

Patrick  Walsh,  do  gent 

Myles  Walsh,  do  do 

Arthur  Viscount  Magennis  of  Iveagh,    — 
Donald  oge  Magennis,  of  Glascorr,  Esquire 
Arthur  Roe  Magennis,  of  Gargrady,:!     do 
Hugh  McClimon,  of  the  Inch,  yeom 

Hugh  McCreely,  do  do 

Dermott  oMoylan,        do  do 

Donagh  6  Moylan,  of  Ballyinecregg,  do 
Tirlogh  oKellie,  of  Ballymacnegolly,  do 
Edmund  oMuchallan  (sic),  do  do 

Thomas  Barrick  and  his  wife  Jeane 

Whitehead,  — 

Shane  oge  oMony,  of  the  same,      yeoman 
Patrick  Stocks,  do  do 

Patrick  Russell,  lately  a  cooke,  — 

Richard  Walsh,  Esqre 

Patrick  McEley  [Popish]  Preist,4  — 

Teige  McEeverty,  the  like,4  — 

Shane  6  Magullaghan,  of  Ballinegrosse, 

yeom 
Patrick  Magullaghan,  do  do 

Gilloollah  Magullaghan,  do  do 

Tirlogh  McEivor,  do        yeom 

Thomas  Tallon,  do  do 

Arthur  Viscount  Magennis,  of  Iveagh, 
Donald  oge  Magennis,  of  Glascorr,  Esquire 
Rory  Magennis,  of  Loghan,  do 

George  Russell,  of  Coniamslowne,        gent 
William  Gibbons,  of  Ballykinlour,         do 
James  Boy  Russell,  of  Camanstown,     do 
Cormk  Maguire,  of  Ballihornan,  yeom 

Donald  McEnusky,  of  Downpatrick, 

m'chant 
Shane  Mcllboy,  do  yeom 

Phelim  oge  McCartan,  of  the  Inch.  do 
Tirlogh  Mclboy,  do  do 

Tirlogh  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Con  6Donnell,  of  Mourne,  do 

Owen  oDoran,  do  do 

Shane  oge  oDoran  do  do 

Caghill  oDoghertie,  do  do 

Caghill  oHarao,  do  do 

Caghill  6  Doghertie, (><;/.)  do  do 

Hugh  McDonnell,  do  do 


1  This  appears  to  be  the  reading  of  the  MS.     Kilcliei,  no  doubt,  is  intended. 

2  There  is  a  townland  named  Lackan  at  the  Ballyroney  station  of  the  G.X.R.  (parish  of 
Drumballyroney). 

3  Sic  in  this  place.     Garg6ry,  parish  of  Drumgooland  (Lower).     In  the  Poor-law  and  Census 
lists  the  name  appears  as  "Gargarry,"  which  ill  sorts  with  the  pronunciation  (like  garg'ry). 

4  These  two  are  the  only  priests'  names  on  the  list  of  the  outlawed  in  Co.  Down. 


78 


THE   WARS   OF    1 64 1    IN    COUNTY   DOWN. 


Neill  oDonnell,  of  Mourne,  yeoni 

Patrick  Russell,  of  Coniamstowne,  do 
George  Walsh,  of  Walshtown,  gent 

Patrick  Walsh,  do  do 

Myles  Walsh,  do  do 

Edward  Walsh,  do  do 

Arthur  Viscount  Magennis  of  Ivagh,    — 
Arthur  Roe  Magennis,  of  Gargary,  Esquire 
Donald  oge  Magennis,  of  Gascar  (sic),  — 
Richard  oge  Walsh,  of  Tullyhinnon,    gent 
Crt'ofer  Walsh,  of  the  same,  do 

Robert  Walsh,  of  the  same,  do 

Patrick  Walsh,  of  the  same,  do 

Patrick  more  McGonaty,  of  Ballynegross, 

yeom 
Shane  oge  McGonnatie,  do      do 

Nichas  McGonnatie,  of  the  same,        yeom 
Richard   Meryman,   sonne  of   Rob' 

Meryman,  of  Sheepland,  do 

Tho:  Merriman,  sonne  of  Wm  Merri- 

man,  of  Rosse,  do 

Tho:  Tallan,  late  of  Ballidoogan,  do 

Dennis  Mackan,  of  Downpatrick,  do 
Phelim  McConnell,  of  Woodgrang,  do 
Manus  McGonaty,  do  do 

Donnell  McConnell,  do  do 

George  Russell,  the  elder,  of  Rath- 
mullan, gent 
George    Russell,    the    yonger,    his 

eldest  sonne,  do 

Gerald  Russell,  of  Ballivaston,  do 

Tho:  Boy  ffitz  Symons,  of  Balliurgan,  yeom 
Edm  ffitz  Simons,  of  the  same,  do 

Patrick  ffitz  Simons,  of  Ballinary,  do 

William     do  do  gent 

Christopher  ffitz  Simons,  of  Glasdromin, 

gent 
Patrick  Boy  Savage,  of  Loghmony, 

in  the  said  county,  do 

Patrick  Savage,  of  Raholpe,  do 

Owen  Savage,  do  do 

Patrick  Savage  McHary  Duff,  do 

Rowland  Savage,  of  Killineny,  do 

Robert  Savage,  do  do 

Wm  oge  6  Kelly,  of  Ballymacnegally,  yeom 
Tirlagh  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Rory  McCullo  6  Kelly,         do  do 

CullooKelly,  do  do 

Patrick  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Richard  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Neill  Duff  6  Kelly,  do  do 


Edmund  6 Kelly,  of  Ballymacnegally,  yeom 

Donald  6  Kelly,                     do  do 

Rob'  Walsh,                          do  do 

Tho.  Walsh,                          do  do 

Edmd  Welsh,                        do  do 

Edmund  oMullan,  of  Ballinecregg,  do 

Shane  oMullan,                    do  do 

Dermott  oMullan,  of  the  same,  do 

Patrick  oMullan,              do  do 

Gerald  ffitz  Simons,          do  do 

Owen  McNereny,              do  do 

Donald  McNereny,           do  do 

Gowy  McClemon,             do  do 

Jenkin  Savage,                  do  do 

Donald  McWeny,             do  do 

Edm'1  oMulchallon,          do  do 

Cormk  oMulchallon,        do  do 

Hugh  McClement,  of  the  Inch,  do 
George  Russell,  the  elder,  of  Rathmullan, 

gent 
George  Russell,  the  younger  (his  first- 
begotten  son  and  pretended1  heir),  do 

Patrick  Russell,  of  Coniamstowne,  do 

Shane  6  Conor,  of  Rathmullan,  yeom 

Hugh  6 Connolly,  of  the  same,  do 

Hugh  Groome  McLey,  do  do 

Patrick  McLey,                do  do 

Shane  McVagh,               do  do 

Neill  McLey,                   do  do 

Robert  McLey,                do  do 

Donogh  McLey,              do  do 

Rob'  oSheale,                 do  do 

Patrick  6  Sharkie,            do  do 

Richard  Boy  6  Shark  (sic)  do  do 

James  6  Shark,                 do  do 

Patrick  6  Hollan,             do  do 

Wm.  Dermott,                do  do 

Rory  McGonatie,            do  do 

Patrick  McGonatie,         do  do 

Donald  McCann,             do  do 

Manus  McGonaty,          do  do 

Wm.  McClery,                do  do 

Hugh  6  Dermott,             do  do 

Owen  McKerry,              do  do 

Patrick  oge  McKerry,    do  do 
Patrick  McGrory,  of  Claugher  (sic),  yeom 
Nichas  Russell,  of  Killoughlens  (sic),  genj 

Robert  Awdley,  of  Awdleystowne,  do 

f  Patrick  Russell2  — 

V  McGroomy  Russell-  do 

James  Russell  McGroomy  Russell,  do 


1  Perhaps  Peter  Hill  intended  himself  as  the  heir  to  Rathmullan ! 

2  I  cannot  make  out  from  the  MS.  whether  this  is  intended  for  one  name  or  two. 
Russell  "  ends  a  line,  "  McGroomy  Russell"  begins  the  next  line. 


Patrick 


THE   WARS   OF    1 64 1    IN    COUNTY   DOWN. 


79 


Vlick  Bourk,  of  Rinbane,  gent 

James  Boy  Russell,  of  Coniamstowne(?)  do 
Richard  oge  Walsh,  of  Walshestowne,  do 
Robert  Walsh,  do  do 

Chr'ofer  Walsh,  do  do 

Henry  Swords,  of  Ballydonnell,(16)  do 
George  Walsh,  of  Walshestown,  do 

Myles  Walsh,  do  do 

Patr.  Walsh,  do  do 

Richard  Walsh,  do  do 

Richard  Walsh  McThomas,  do  do 

John  Walsh,  do  do 

Thomas  Walsh  McWalter,  do  do 

John  ffitz  Simons,  of  Ballynary,  do 

John  fhtz  Simons  McWilliam,  do  do 

Arthur  Viscount  Magennis,  of  Ivagh,   — 
Arthur  Roe  Magennis,  of  Gargary,      gent 
Donald  oge  Magennis,  of  Glascor,  Esquire 
Rory  Magennis,  of  Loghan,  do 

Ever  Magennis,  of  Castlewellan,  do 

Patrick  McHugh  Ballaghe  oDoran, 

of  Mourne,    gent 
ffelim  McDoran,  do  do 

Shane  oge  6  Doran  do  do 

Edmund  Magennis,  of  Corrocks,  (1T)  do 
Hugh  McRosse  Magennis, 

of  Aghnemolragh,(18)     do 
Hugh  oRony,  of  Ballycaslan,(19)  do 

Donald  Magennis,  of  Garagulagh(P)  do 
fferdoragh  McArt  oge  Magennis,  do 

Art    oge    McBrian    oge    Magennis, 

of  Keson  (sic),  do 

Donald  McAwlins(?),  of  Dromorade,    gent 
Teige  oBrien,  of  Bally  mcWille,  do 

ffergus  Magennis,  of  Erenan,  do 

Con  boy  Magennis,  of  Culcavy,  do 

James  Magin,  of  Dromintanty,  do 

Murtagh  McCowell,  of  Ballinlogh,  do 
Shane  oge  6  Loghlin,  of  Ballylaghnan,  do 
James  Roe  McAwlins  (sic),  yeom 

Edmd  McDonnell  oge  Magennis,  gent 

Donald  Shane  Magennis,  of  Lynan,  do 
Phelim  Magennis,  of  Ballybanan,  do 
Robert  Garvie,  of  Shanaghan,1  do 

Hugh  Magennis,  do  yeom 

George  Russell,  the  Elder,  of  Rathmullan, 

gent 
George  Russell,  the  younger,  his  first 

begotten  sonn,  do 

Henry  Swords,  of  Ballydonnell.  do 

Allaster  Mcllvarnoge,  of  Ardmin,       yeom 
Donnogh  Mcllvarnoge,  do 


Allaster  Duffe,  of  the  same,  yeom 

Wm    McAnaltie,  of  the  same,  do 

ffergus  McCawell,         do  do 

Peirce  Magian  (sic),    do  do 

Agholy  McCawell,        do  do 

Patrick  Savage,              do  do 

Cormuck  oSheall,         do  do 

Patrick  oSheall,             do  do 
William  Reagh  6  Mony,  of  Dollen  ( sic),  do 

Conogher  6  Mony,                     do  do 

Manus  6 Court,                         do  do 

James  McConnell,                   do  do 

Gildea  McTegart,                    do  do 

Patrick  McCawell,                  do  do 

Donoghie  6 Conogher,             do  do 

Nelan  6  Conogher  Wm  Savage,-  do  do 

Hugh  McGragh,  of  the  same,  do 

James  McEnesky,  of  Loghmony,  do 

Hugh  6  Merman  (sic),      do  do 

Nelan  6  Horan,                  do  do 
Nicholas  M'Gonnatie,  of  Ballinegrosse,  do 

Patrick  McGonnatie,              do  do 

Donald  6  Rush,                        do  do 

Owen  McKerry,                      do  do 
Patrick  Duffe  McKeghry  (sic), 

of  Ballywalter,  do 

Wm.  oKellaghan,                       do  do 

Nicholas  ffitz  Symons,               do  do 

Wm.  Oge  McCrory,  of  Grangecam,  do 

Wm.  oRony,                         do  do 

Patrick  oRony,                     do  — 

ShaneoRony,                       do  do 

Tirlagh  oRony,                     do  do 

Art  oMulcosker,                   do  do 

Edmund  oMulcosker,          do  do 

Richard  oVlanan  (sic),       do  do 

Donogh  oMulveigh,             do  do 

Brian  McCartan,                   do  do 

Arthur  McCartan,                 do  do 
Phelim  McCartan,  of  Ballynesroe  (sic),  do 

Redmond  McCartan,                do  do 

Donagh  More  ovlanan  (sic),  do  do 

Donagh  oge  ovlanan,               do  do 

Manus  McKey,                         do  do 

Redmond  McGIow,                  do  do 

Shane  McWard,                        do  do 

Walter  oCashy,                         do  do 

Patrick  6  Toner,                        do  do 

Rory  offenan,                            do  do 

Hugh  offenan,                           do  do 

Robert  McKey,                         do  do 

Jenkin  McKey,                         do  do 


1  Perhaps  Shannaghan  (at  Kate's  Bridge). 

2  One  name  or  two — doubtful. 


So 


THE    WARS   OF    1 64 1    IN    COUNTY    DOWN. 


Arthur  Viscount  Magennis,  of  Iveagh 
Arthur  Roe  Magennis,  of  Gargary,      Esq" 

Donald  oge  Magennis,  of  Glascorry,  do 
Rory  Magennis,  of  Loghan,             Esquire 

Ever  Magennis,  of  Castlewallen  (sic),  do 
fferdoragh  Magennis,  of  Clanvaraghan,  gent 
Brian   McEver   Magennis,   de  (sic) 

Shankall,1  do 

Irrial  Magennis,  of  Lisraterny,  do 

Connell  Magennis,         do  do 
Coghannell  (sic)  McWard,  of  Derry- 

nealle,1  do 

Cormuck  McWard,  of  Moneyslane,1  do 

Patrick  oge  McWard,  of  Balliward,1  do 
Art  oge  McBrian  oge  Magennis,  of 

Weson  (sic),  do 

Rorie  Magennis,  late  of  Edenticullie,  do 

Con  boy  Magennis,  de  Kilcavy,  do 

Ifergus  Magennis,  of  Grenan,  do 

fferdoragh  Magennis,  of  Linan,  do 

Hugh  oLawey,  of  Moyragh,  do 

George  Russell,  of  Rathmullen,  do 

William  Gibbons,  of  Ballykinler,  do 

Patrick  McCartan,  of  Loughneiland,  do 

Owen  McCartan,  of  Dromsnade,  do 

Owen  oge  McCartan,       do  do 

Patrick  McHugh,  Ballagh  O'Doran,  do 

Phelim  oDoran,  of  Mourne,  do 

Donald  McOwney,  of  Killouen,  do 

Patrick  Groome  McOwney,  do'2  do 

George  Walsh,  of  Walshestown,  do 

Patrick  Walsh,  do  do 

Myles  Walsh,  do  do 

Richard  Walsh,  do  do 

Chr'oferWTalsh,theyonger,  do  do 

Robert  Walsh,  do  do 

Oliver  Walsh,  do  do 

Richard  ffitzThomasW'alsh.of  thesame,  do 

John  Walsh,  do  do 

Nicholas  McKennan,  do    yeoman 

Patrick  McKennan,  do  do 

Patrick  McOliver,  do  do 

Thomas  Walsh,  do  do 

Brian  6Rony,  do  do 

Teige  6  ffey,  do  do 

Cormuck  6  Rony,  do  do 


Richard  oDoran,  of  the  same,       yeoman 

William  6  Killen,  do  do 

Nicholas  6  Killen,  do  do 

Richard  Rogers,  do  do 

James  o  Musty  (sic),  do  do 

Shane  o  Gravy,  of  Awdleystownc,  do 

Mawrice  McGerty,  do  do 

Patrick  o  Connor,  do  do 

Hugh  oMornan,  do  do 

Patrick  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Robert  Savage,  of  Raghols,  do 

Dennis  oConnall,         do  do 

Gilmeall  McKerry,       do  do 

Arthur  McKerry,  do  do 

Donald  oBreare,  do  do 

Dennis  oConnor,  of  Carrowkae  do 

Nelan  6 Connor,  do  do 

Win.  Savage,  do  do 

Hugh  Magrae,  do  do 

Manus  Banc  McCashidie.do  do 

Rory  McCoy,  of  Loghmony,  do 

Hugh  oMornan,  do  do 

James  McNusky,  do  do 

Win,  Boy  McKenedy,  do  do 

Win.  Hammell,  do  do 

Patrick  Savage,  of  Stoakstowne,  do 

1'atrick  McMullan,  do  do 

Owen  Savage,  do  do 

Owen  Macgian,  do  do 

Hugh  Macgian,  do  do 

Patrick  6  Ronan,  of  Ballyculter,  do 

Patrick  Smith,  do  do 

Murtagh  Magennis,  do  do 

Wm.  oSheredan,  do  do 

Constantine  als  Con  Magennis :i  [late 

of]  Newcastle,   .  Knight 

Patrick  McCartan,  of  Loughneyland,    gent 
Constantine  ab  Con  6Neall,  of  Slut- 

neales,  do 
Edmund  oge  Magrane,  of  Ballydian,  yeoman 
Brian  McNemarrow,  of  Crunclogher,     do 

Cullo  McNemarrow,  do  do 

Manus  McGrane,  of  Ballydian,  do 

Brian  dull  McGrane,        do  do 

Patrick  McGrane,  do  do 

Neille  Roe  6  Kelly,  of  Legagoan,  do 


1  Ballyvard,  Moneyslane,  and  Derryneil,  townlands  in  tlie  parish  of  Drumgooland  (Lower). 
Ballyward  is  bounded  on  three  sides  by  Gargory,  Derryneil,  and  Moneyslane.  I  have  heard  old 
people  in  that  neighbourhood  speak  of  a  long-disused  graveyard  named  Shankill,  near  "the  Big 
Forth"  in  Maghermayo  (a  townland  adjoining  Gargory,  and  in  same  parish).  There  is  also  a 
townland  named  Shankill  in  the  parish  of  Aghederg. 

2  The  names  Patrick  McCartan,  Loughinisland  ;  Owen  McCartan,  and  Owen  oge  McCartan, 
repeated  after  Patrick  Groome  McOwney. 

3  A  word  here  obliterated  (fol.  33,  near  foot  of  jnd  page).  The  words  "late  of"  above  the 
word  erased. 


THE   WARS   OF    1641    IN    COUNTY   DOWN. 


II 


Patrick  oge  6 Kelly,  of  Legagoan,    yeoman 
Brian  Reagh  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Donald  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Patrick  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Thomas  offlyn,  do  do 

Edmund  6  Kelly,  do  do 

Patrick  6  fflyn,  do  do 

Owen  McAllester,  do  do 

Patrick  6  Kelly,  of  Liswine,  do 

Donald  o  Kelly,  do  do 

Edward  Bryne  (sic),  of  Annalogh,  do 
James  Harrison,  of  Ballidogan,  do 

William  Crooke,  do  do 

Thomas  Crooke,  do  do 

Edmund   boy  McGlasney   Magennis 

de  Clare,  gent 

Arthur  oge  McGlasney  Magennis,  of 

Ballinegarrick,  do 

Rory  Magennis,  late  of  Edentecullagh,  do 
Hugh  Magennis,  of  Ballynegarrick,  do 
Hugh  Magennis,  of  Edengreeney,  do 
Phelim  Magennis,  of  Loghan  [Lackan?]  do 
John  Gennings,  of  Bally  worfie,  do 

Rory  Curragh  oLawy,  of  ffowny,  do 

Hugh  Magennis,  of  Aghneleck,  do 

James  Magin,  of  Dromentantie,  do 

Richard  oge  Magin,  of  Tullynecross,  do 
Shane  Magin,  do 

Phelim  McArt  oge  Magennis, 

of  Ballynegarrick,  do 

fferdoragh  McArt  oge  Magennis,  do.  do 
Brian  Crossagh  McArt  oge  Magennis, 

of  Ballynegarrick,  do 
fferdoragh  McManus  Magennis, 

of  Linan,  do 
Hugh  Magennis,  do         do 

Donald  Conor  Magennis,  of  the  same,  do 
Brian  McEdmund  boy  Magennis,  of 

Clare,  do 

Phelim  Magennis,  of  Edenordry  (sic)  do 
Hugh   Magennis    M'Donell   oge,  of 

Gragulaghe,  do 

Donell  oge  McDonnell  oge  McEdmund 

boy  Magennis,1  of  Gragulaghe,       do 
Hugh  Magennis,  of  Greenan,  do 

Phelim  oLawry  (sic),  of  Moyragh,  do 
Tirlagh  oLawry,  do  do 

Patrick  Moder  McConwall,  of  Cul- 

sillagh,  yeom 

Murtagh  McGlasny  Magennis, 

de  Clanconnell,  gent 
Phelim  McGlasny  Magennis,      do         do 
Glasny  oge  Magennis,  do         do 

Mortagh  McConwall,  de  Tullicarr,        do 


Con  Moder  Magennis,  de  Tullicarr,  gent 

Tirlagh  McCann,  of  Kilmore,  do 

Patrick  Moder  McManus,  do 

Dermot  6  Lawry,  of  Taghlomney,  do 

Agholy  6  Musty,  of  Cows  (?),  do 

Neyle  6  Kelly,  of  Clontenaglare,  do 
Phelim  6  Toole  oNeale,  of  Tawn- 

aghmore,  do 

Brian  Roe  6  Kelly,  of  Liswine,  do 
Patrick  McNabb,  of  Ballymullan,        yeom 

Nicholas  oge  McNabb,       do  gent 
Donald    Roe    McNabb,    of    Bally- 

allaghan,  yeom 

Brian  McCoskey,  of  Balliboy,  do 

Owen  McCloskie,  do  do 

Donogh  McCloskie,      do  do 

Rory  oLinsey,  do  do 

Donagh  oLinsey,  do  do 

Phelim  McGurneghan,  do  do 

John  Moder  6  Lynn       do  do 

Win,  6  Linn,  of  the  same,  do 
Reinold  McDowaltagh  McAlaster,  of 

Balliboy,  do 
Owen  Groome  McCrossakin,   of  the 

same,  do 

Gildea  McCrossakin,  of  Balliboy,  do 

Win.  Mcllbarnog,  do  do 

Donald  Mcllbarnog,  do  do 

Owen  Carragh  McIlvarnog,do  do 

Alaster  Mcllvarnogg,  of  the  same,  do 

Neece  McAlester,  de  Tullichin,  do 
Shane  McGiverneghan,  of  Castlerame 
v                                                         (sic),  do 

Cullo  McGiverneghan,  do  do 

Donogh  Mcllvarnog,  do  do 

Henry  8 Shennagh,  do  do 

Patrick  o  Kelly,  of  Killinsy,  do 

James  Crean,  do  do 

Cormuck  oge  McMullan,  of  Killinsy,  do 

Donald  M'Mullan,  do  do 

Patrick  More  6  Linsie,  do  do 

Patrick  oge  oLinsie,  do  do 

Murtagh  Moder  6  Denver, 

of  Clontenaglare,  do 

Patrick  o  Denver,  do  do 

Loghlin  6  Denver,  do 

Donald  o  Kelly,  do  do 

Edmund  6 Kelly,  do  do 

Phelim  o  Kelly,  do  do 

Donald  6  Kelly  (repeated),       do  do 

Cormuck  nKein,  of  Ballimcmullan,  do 

William  oKein,  do  do 

Patrick  nKein,  do  do 

Brian  6 Kelly,  of  Legagoan,  do 


1  Sic  as  in  MS.     One  name  apparently. 


82  THE   WARS   OF    1 64 1    IN    COUNTY   DOWN. 

All  the  p'ties  against  which  such  writts  issued  being  of  the  County 
of  Downe  aforesd  And  saith  that  he  this  depon'  according  to  the 
purport  of  the  said  writts  of  exigent,  did  comand  or  otherwise  exact 
at  5  severall  Countie  Courts  wch  he  held  and  kept  within  the  said 
County  of  Downe,  the  persons  of  all  and  every  the  p'ties  before  named 
to  bee  and  appeare  in  the  said  Cort  of  Cheef  place  in  cro  Aiay(?) 
aforementioned,  or  els  (as  he  openly  proclaimed)  they  would  all  be 
owtlawed  for  want  of  appearance  and  answering  our  Soveraigne  Lord 
the  King  of  the  treasons  and  present  Rebellion,  Whereof  they  stood 
indicted.  And  this  depon'  made  his  returncs  upon  the  same  Writts 
according  to  his  due  exccucon  of  the  same  :  Howbeit,  this  depon1 
saith,  That  in  and  about  the  execucon  and  proclaiming  of  those  writts, 
he  [did]  run  a  great  hazard  &  danger  not  only  of  his  own  Liffc,  but  of 
the  Lives  of  all  his  souldjers  and  servants  wdl  hee  at  his  own  charges 
kept,  and  wch  attended  him  therein.  But  this  depon'  is  confident  that 
none  of  those  p'ties  soe  indicted,  exacted,  or  proclamed  did  appeare, 
neyther  could  this  depon'  apprehend  any  of  them,  But  that  by  reason 
of  their  default  they  were  [J  returned  &  soe]  are  and  stand  all  outlawed 
for  their  present  Rebellion.  And  this  depon'  further  saith  That  the 
Rebellion  in  the  said  County  of  Downe  by  and  amongst  the  irish 
papistes  was  soe  generall,  That  few  or  none  of  the  gentrie,  freeholders, 
farmers  or  other  of  the  irish  papistes  did  exempt  themselves  fro 
that  action,  nor  were  clere,  but  all  (as  this  depon'  is  verely  perswaded) 
highlie  guiltie,  some  of  murthering,  some  of  robbing,  some  of  stripping 
the  protcstants  naked,  &  soe  turneing  them  away  in  frost  snow  or  cold 
weather,  &  some  of  all  ;  neither  did  any  of  those  wicked  papistes 
[wch  were]  of  value  within  that  Countie,  that  hee  knoweth  of  (although 
he  knoweth  the  countie  well)  soe  escape  but  that  they  were  either 
indicted  or  outlawed  for  the  Rebellion,  or  both-  :  In  the  performance 
whereof  this  depon'  was  noe  weake  nor  unwilling  instrum'  nor  a  man 
that  any  way  slighted  his  service,  either  for  favor,  or  feare  of 
danger,  as  by  his  service  therein  appeareth.  And  this  depon'  further 
saith,  That  when  the  Rebellion  first  brake  out,  hee  this  depon'  [being 
as  aforesaid  att]  the  Cittie  of  Dublin  [about]  his  Ma'tys  affairs  there 
by  him  to  be  done,  And  hearing  as  aforesaid  of  the  generall  Rebellion 
of  the  Irish  papists  there,  and  how  the  English  and  Scottish  protes- 

1  "  And  "  struck  out. 

2  The  passage  beginning  "  That  few  or  none  of  the  gentrie,  .  .  the  Rebellion,  or  both  " 
is,  on  the  original,  nearly  enclosed  by  a  penstroke.  The  more  sensational  passages  are  frequently 
found  so  marked  in  the  several  volumes  of  depositions.  The  scoring  does  not  appear  to  be  of 
recent  date. 


THE   WARS   OF    164I    IN   COUNTY   DOWN.  83 

tants  were  all  robbed  and  stript,  and  many  of  them  murthered,  Hee 
this  depon'  at  his  owne  charges,  bought  and  furnished  himself  with 
Armes  for  fowrscore  and  fowrteen  men,  and  hadd  only  powder,  match, 
and  shott  out  of  his  Ma'ties  store,  And,  being  soe  furnished,  fraighted 
a  Barque  with  those  Armes  and  Amunition  from  Dublin,  and  thence 
sayled  therewith,  and  with  drums  &  cullours  wch  he  had  alsoe  bought, 
to  Strangford,  Where  he,  landing  with  them,  raised  [and]  armed  a 
company  of  men,  viz',  some  horse  some  foot,  and  kept  them  att  his 
owne  charges  for  above  a  yere  and  a  half,  all  saveing  such  provision 
of  corne  and  cattell  [wch]  he  and  they  took  from  the  Rebells.  And  in 
that  tyme  this  depon'  &  his  souldjers  executed  by  martiall  Lawe  & 
slewe  above  threescore  notorious  Rebells  within  the  said  Countie  of 
Downe  &  [other]  places  adiacent,  drive  (sic)  many  other  Rebells  out  of 
those  parts,  took  divers  preyes  of  cattle,  horses,  sheepe,  and  corne  from 
them,  and  did  other  acceptable  service,  to  the  often  hazarding  of  him- 
self and  souldjers,  and  did  till,  plow,  and  sow,  within  the  territory  of 
Lecale,  a  [good] l  quantity  of  corne  and  graine,  and  there  contynued 
untill  about  May  last,  1644,  that  (sic)  this  depon'  and  his  family,  his 
dwelling  howse  of  Ballyhornan  within  Lecale  aforesad  with  [some 
p*  of]  his  howsehold  goodes,  corne,  cattle,  horses,  mares,  Armes,  Amu- 
nition, App'ell,  and  other  thinges  [wch  were  left  him]  were  forcibly 
surprized  and  taken  by  a  pty  of  souldjers  under  the  comand  of  Sir 
James  Montgomery,  knight,  colonell  of  a  Regim',  And  a  few  dayes 
after  by  souldjers'2  under  the  comand  of  the  Lord  Lindseys  Scottish 
Colonell,  Wch  p'ties  divided  and  shared  amongst  them  the  most  of 
the  deponent's  said  goodes  and  chattells,  and  all  his  Armes  and 
Amunition  [wch]  he  had  there,  &  that  done,  expulsed  [&  drove]  the 
depon'  out  of  the  said  County  of  Downe,  Soe  as  he  was  forced  to  fly 
to  Dublin  for  succour  releefe  and  safetie  of  his  life.  But  before  he 
went  away,  hee  was  putt  to  that  distresse  and  danger  that  one  Maior 
John  Keeth,  [under]  Sr  James  Montgomery,  inforct  [the  depon'],  by 
want  and  threats,  to  accept  of  16"  for  his  Corne  wch  was  worth  200",  & 
to  give  him  an  acquittance  for  it,  ffor  otherwise  the  said  Keeth  said 
that  hee  would  have  the  said  Corne,  and  give  nothing  att  all  to  the 
depon'  for  the  same,  And  although  this  depon'  complaned  to  the  said 
Sr  James  Montgomery  (whoe  lived  not  above  3  or  4  myles  fro  this 
depont's  said  howse)  of  his  said  evill  intreaty,  oppression  and  wrong, 
and  desired  to  have  his  goodes,  meanes,  Armes,  and  Amunition  re- 
delivered vnto  him,  Yet  the  said  Sr  James  Montgomery  would   not, 

1  ' '  Great "  erased.  2  "  A  p'v  of "  erased. 


84  THE  WARS  OF    1 64 1    IN   COUNTY   DOWN. 

nor  did  releeve,  nor  rectify  this  depon'  therein,  Although,  as  this 
depon'  is  perswaded,  he  might  and  could  have  done  it,  if  he  had  soe 
pleased,  [but  had  contrariwise]  sett  the  said  Keeth  and  his  souldjers  on 
work  to  stripp  and  extirpate  this  depon',  for  that  this  depon'  had  for- 
merly (as  indeed  there  was  too  great  cawse)  complained  ag'  him  the 
said  Sr  James  for  deserting  of  Downe,  loosing  the  country  to  the  Irish, 
&  for  severall  other  fowle  abuses. 

And  as  to  murthers  and  cruelties  comitted  by  the  cruell  Irish 
Rebells  of  the  County  of  Down  and  Province  of  Vlster  upon  the 
protestants,  This  depon1  thereunto  saith,  That  about  January  1641 
about  seventeen  protestants,  viz'  Lieutenant  Hugh  Trevor  and  his  wife, 
Mr.  Tudge  minister  of  the  Newry,  and  the  rest  whose  names  he 
remembereth  not,  having  bin  prisoners  at  the  Newry  with  Sr  Conn 
Magennis  the  gran  Rebell,  were  by  the  said  Sr  Conn's  direcons  sent 
from  the  Newry  downe  to  Carlingford  to  be  embarked  for  Dublin,  and 
there  they  staying  for  wynd,  one  Michaell  Garvey,  then  subsheriff  of 
the  said  County  of  Downe,  came  with  a  warrant  from  the  said  Sr  Conn 
to  carry  them  over  to  Greene  Castle  &  soe  to  have  them  conveyed 
[as  hee  pretended]1  to  Downe  to  be  exchanged2  for  some  prisoners  of 
the  Irish.8  But  noe  sooner  were  they  brought  to  Newcastle  wch  is 
within  8  myles  of  Downe,  But  the  said  Sr  Conn  mett  them  there, 
And  the  next  day  he  cawsed  them  to  be  sent  thence  about  a  myle  and 
a  half  into  a  wood  called  the  Pace  (sic)  of  Ballyonery,  Where  and 
when  they  were  all  most  miserably  and  barbarously  hackt,  slasht,  cutt 
in  peeces,  and  murthered,  by  George  Russell  of  Rathmullen  aforesaid, 
Gentleman,  and  divers  his  assistants  instigated  and  comanded  by  the 
said  Sr  Con  Magennis,  as  this  depon'  hath  very  credibly  heard. 

And  further  saith,  That  about  the  begining  of  March  1 641,  about 
[ffowr  score 4]  men,  women  &  children  of  English  and  Scottish  were 
sent  by  direccon  of  Sr  Phelim  oNeile  fro  the  County  of  Armagh  downe 

1  "  As  was  pretended  "  struck  out. 

2  Why  the  exchange  of  prisoners  did  not  take  place  Peter  Hill  could  perhaps  have  told  had 
he  chosen  to  be  more  explicit.  Of  the  many  deponents  examined  in  1653  by  the  Commissioners 
of  the  Commonwealth  sitting  at  Carrickfergus,  not  one  mentions  George  Russell  of  Ralhmullan  as 
having  act  or  part  in  the  Bloody  Bridge  tragedy,  or  as  being  in  or  about  Newcastle  at  the  time. 

Edward  Sanders  a  soldier,  taken  at  Newry  on  the  night  of  the  22nd  October,  1641,  was  a 
prisoner  in  Sir  Con's  house  at  Newcastle,  and  saw  the  prisoners  taken  out  and  divided  into  two 
parties.  One  party  was  sent  back  to  Newry,  and  of  this  party  was  Eliza  Crooker,  who,  in  her 
deposition,  mentions  her  return  from  Newcastle  to  Newry.  Sanders  is  able  to  do  what  the  high 
sheriff  fails  to  do — namely,  to  supply  the  names  of  those  then  executed  ;  and  the  number  did  not 
exceed  ten.  Too  many,  indeed  ;  but  what  would  any  commander — rebel  or  other — of  the  present 
day  do,  if  brought  face  to  face  with  such  "  acceptable  service"  as  I'eter  Hill  boasts  of? 

The  depositions  touching  on  the  Ballaghonery  tragedy  and  other  imputed  massacres  in 
County  Down  are  fully  set  out  in  the  recently  published  work,  The  Bloody  Bridge. 

3  "  As  was  pretended"  again  struck  out. 

*  "  One  hundred  and  forty  protestants  "  scored  out. 


THE   WARS   OF    1 64 1    IN    COUNTY   DOWN.  85 

to  Clanyboyes,  in  the  County  of  Downe,  where  they  were  mett  by  one 
Capt"  Phelim  McArt  McBrinn1  &  his  company  of  Rebells  (most  of 
his  owne  sept),  Wdl  said  Capt"  Phelim  and  his  company  carried  and 
forced  all  those  protestants  from  thence  unto  a  lough  called  Lough 
Kearnan  in  the  same  county.  In  wUl  loughe  he  and  his  said  company 
forced  [them  upon  the  yce2]  and  drowned  them  all,  both  men,  women, 
and  children,  spareing  none  of  them  att  all. 

Hee  further  saith,  That  since  the  Rebellion  began,  but  especially 
for  a  yere  and  above  now  last  past,  it  hath  been  a  very  comon  & 
ordinary  thing  for  the  Irish  to  murther,  devowre  and  eate  the  persons 
of  such  English  as  they  could  light  upon,  and  when  they  could  light 
upon  none  of  them,  then  to  kill,  devowre,  and  eate  one  another. 

And  about  one  yere  now  since  there  [was]  brought  to  this 
depon'  at  his  howse  called  Ballyhornan,  an  Irish  woman  for  wounding 
and  attempting  to  kill  another  Irish  woman  and  her  child,  Wch  woman 
soe  accused  &  brought  before  him,  upon  her  examinacon  confessed, 
That  she  had  hurt,  but  had  an  intent  to  have  killed  the  other  woman 
and  her  child,  and  to  have  eaten  the  child.  Whereupon  &  becawse 
he  was  credibly  informed  that  such  a  lyke  fatt  woman  hadd  killed  and 
divowred  divers  others,  he  this  depon'  cawsed  her  to  be  hanged,  Before 
and  at  the  tyme  of  wch  suffering  she  was  so  graceles  That  she  could 
not  be  perswaded  soe  much  as  once  to  cry  or  call  upon  God  for  mercy. 

About  the  tyme  afores1,  viz*  a  yere  since,  three  troopers  under  the 
Lord  Conwayes  comand,  going  out  fro  Lisnegarvie  over  the  River  into 
the  County  of  Downe  with  their  horses  about  2  myles  off  to  fetch 
home  grasse  were  suddenly  surprised  by  some  of  the  Irish  together  with 
their  horses:  wch  three  troopers  were  then  and  there  murthered,  and 
afterwards  their  flesh  eaten  and  devowred  by  divers  barbarous  Irish- 
women that  lay  in  the  woodes.  And  the  very  bones  of  those  men 
were  afterwards  fowud  in  the  woodes  cleene  pickt,  and  the  flesh  (first 
[as  was  conceaved3]  boyled)  eaten  quite  off  the  same. 

The  depon'  further  saith  that  he  hath  bin  credibly  informed  by  one 
Christopher  Bellow  (whom  he  hath  great  cawsc  to  believe)  that 
whereas  the  said  Phelim  McArt  McBrenn4  and  his  wicked  company 
had  brought  the  fowrscore  English  and  Scotts,  that  came  out  of  the 
county  of  Armagh  upon  the  said  Lough,  called  Lough  Kearne  (sic), 
And  whereas  they  found  it  soe  frozen  with  Ice  that  they  could  not  be 

1  May  be  "McBrian" —  more  like  "McBrinn" — which  is  modernized  into  Burns. 
a  "Upon  the  yce"  interlined  in  paler  ink:  the  ink  of  the  final  paragraph. 

3  Interlined  in  the  pale  ink  of  last  paragraph. 

4  "McBrian"  scored  out. 


86  THE   WARS   OF    1641    IN    COUNTY    DOWN. 

drowned  ncre  the  sides  thereof,  Then  they  forced  them  as  farr  as  they 
could  on  the  Ice,  But  not  dareing  to  drive  or  pursue  them  forr  feare  to 
breake  the  yce  under  their  owne  feete,and  soe  to  be  drowned  themselves, 
They,  those  wicked  &  mercilcs  Irish  [then]  took  the  sucking  children 
from  their  parents  and  those  that  carried  them,  and,  with  all  the 
strength  they  could,  threw  them  as  farr  as  they  were  able  towardes  the 
place  where  the  Ice  was  weak  &  thinn:  Whereupon  those  parents, 
nurses  and  frendes,  striving  to  fetch  off  the  children,  went  soe  farr, 
that  they  burst  and  broke  through  the  yce,  And  then  and  there  both 
they  and  the  children  perished  together  by  drowning,  all  save  one  man 
(that  escaped  from  them  wounded)  and  a  woman,  whose  names  he 
cannot  expresse.  PE:   HlLL 

Jur:  290  Maij  1645 
Hen:  Jones 
Hen:  Brereton. 

[The  signatures,  Jurat,  and  date  are  in  the  same  ink  as  the  deposition  (leaving  out 
Bellow's  story,  which  is  in  some  parts  almost  illegible  owing  to  the  paleness  of  the  ink). 
Some  interlineations  are  in  the  same  pale  ink;  e.g.,  that  relating  to  the  "boyling"  of  the 
troopers  near  Lisnegarvy.  The  concluding  words,  "whose  names  he  cannot  expresse,"  seem 
to  have  been  written  by  a  different  hand.  Hill's  signature  has  a  flourish  of  interlaced  work 
appended,  contrasting  with  the  severe  plainness  of  the  Commissioners'  signatures. 

In  his  first  version  of  the  Lough  Kernan  story  "all  were  drowned";  in  the  second,  a  man 
and  a  woman  escape.  No  attempt  appears  to  have  been  made  to  bring  forward  any  who 
could  give  direct  evidence.  While  the  Newcastle  ("Ballagh")  affair  was  fully  gone  into  by 
the  Commissioners  sitting  at  Carrickfergus  in  1653,  the  Lough  Kernan  case  drops  out  of  sight, 
except  the  mere  mention  from  hearsay  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dunphine's  deposition — cited  at 
page  90,  The  Bloody  Bridge.} 

Notes  supplied  by  Edward  Parkinson. 

(^Inquisition,  Downpatrick,  9  Apr.,  1662. — "George  Russell,  late  of  Conyamstowne, 
deceased,  was  seized  as  of  fee  of  the  town  and  lands  of  Conyamstowne  containing  120  acres, 
and  town  and  lands  of  Ballenisrue  containing  120  acres."  George  Russell  died  10  July,  1645. 
His  son  Patrick  was  then  aged  10  years. 

In  Pope  Nicholas's  Taxation  Terrier  this  townland  is  called  "  Baliconyngham."  The 
late  Bishop  Reeves,  in  his  Down  and  Connor  (note  u,  p.  34),  says:  "John  de  Bali- 
coningham,  who  was  elected  to  the  see  of  Down  in  1328,  and  was  consecrated  Bishop  of 
Cork  in  1330,  probably  derived  his  name  from  this  place." 

(2)  Aghlisnafin,  present  name  of  townland  in  parish  of  Kilmegan  and  barony  of  Lecale. 

(3)  William  Gibbons  of  Ballikenlar  was  son  and  heir  of  John  Gibbons  of  Dublin,  alderman, 
who  died  30  Nov.,  1633.  Ul.  Inq.,  Down,  70,  Car.  1.  The  said  John  Gibbons,  in  addition 
to  the  lands  of  Ballikenlar,  was  also  seized  of  other  adjoining  lands,  and  by  deed  dated 
24  May,  1633,  he  conveyed  to  certain  uses  his  several  lands  to,  amongst  other  trustees, 
Patric  Russell  of  Ballyhornan,  and  Rob  Crowly,  alias  Swords,  of  Ballydonnell. 

The  deposition  of  Lieut.  Edward  Davies,  Trinity  College,  Down,  2808  MSS.,  F.  3,  8, 
details  the  siege  of  Downpatrick  and  its  subsequent  capitulation  to  the  Irish  under  Lord 
Magennis,  Yiscount  Iveagh,  and  Colonel  Con  Oge  O'Neill.  The  depositions  give  the  names 
of  several  of  the  local  Irish  leaders;  viz.,  "Lord  Evagh,  Conne  Oge  O'Neill,  deceased  ; 


THE   WARS   OF    1 64 1    IN   COUNTY   DOWN.  87 

Daniell  Maginnis,  now  in  prison  ;  Patr  Macartan,  now  in  prison  ;  Owen  McCartan,  now  in 
prison  ;  Georg  Russell  of  Rathmullen  ;  Phelemey  McToole  O'Neill,  deceased  ;  William 
Gibbons  of  Ballykinlar,  deceased  ;  Rorey  McEver  Oge  Maginis. " 

John  Gibbons  obtained  the  lands  of  Ballykinlar  from  Con  McGennis  of  "  Ballykenlowre," 
who  in  turn  had  obtained  them  from  "  Georg  Russell,  junior,  of  Rathmollen."  These  lands 
were  held  under  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  Dublin,  at  yearly  rent 
°f  jC3>  to  whom  they  had  originally  been  granted  by  Sir  John  de  Courcy. 

[The  deposition  of  Lieut.  Edward  Davies  (printed  in  Montgomery  A/SS.  notes)  is  on 
fol.  165  Co.  Down  Depositions.  Recently  each  volume  has  been  numbered  by  folios  ;  that 
is,  the  odd  pages  are  numbered  1,  2,  3,  etc.,  each  number  so  placed  representing  two  pages. 
A  general  index  to  the  whole  collection  of  $$  vols,  (for  use  in  the  T.C. D.  Library)  is  in 
course  of  preparation. — T.  F.  ] 

(4;  Patrick  Magrory  of  Clogher.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  younger  son,  as  his  name  does 
not  appear  in  the  Inquisitions. 

By  Inquisition  held  at  Newry  17  Sept.,  1627,  it  was  found  that  Donat  Magrory,  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  "  was  seized  of  the  town  and  lands  of  Clogher  containing  two  messuages 
and  80  acres,  and  of  a  messuage  in  the  town  of  Downe  called  the  Odd  Hall."  This 
Inquisition  further  finds  that  Donat  Magrory  died  20  Aug.,  1599,  leaving  Owen  Magrory,  his 
son  and  heir,  who  was  then  aged  27,  and  married,  and  that  said  messuage  was  held  in  capite 
by  knights  service.  The  patent  of  the  Downpatrick  estate  to  Thomas  Cromwell,  Viscount 
Lecale  (13  July,  13  Chas.  I.),  grants,  inter  alia,  "  the  town  of  Downe,  alias  Down  Patrick, 
except  a  few  tenements  held  by  freemen,  and  two  closes;  vizt.,  John  Dowdall,  two 
tenements  ;  Owen  McGroary,  two  tenements  ;  Simon  Jordan,  one  close  ;  Robert  Audley, 
one  close."  The  closes  here  referred  to  are  still  known  as  "Jordan's  Acre"  and  "  Audley's 
Acre  "  respectively,  and  are  within  a  very  short  distance  of  Downpatrick.  The  premises 
in  Irish  Street  at  present  occupied  by  John  Grant,  tailor,  are  on  the  site  of  what  was 
formerly  known  as  "  Magrory's  Castle."  It  and  the  adjoining  tenement  are  marked  on  the 
survey  of  the  Down  estate  (1708  A.D.)  as  "  Magrorie's  tenement,"  Nos.  17  and  18,  Irish 
Quarter. 

(5)  Drumsnade,  parish  of  Magheradroll  and  barony  of  Kinelarty. 

(6)  Ballylone,  parish  of  Magheradroll  and  barony  of  Kinelarty. 
(")  Drumaghlis,  parish  of  Kilmore  and  barony  of  Kinelarty. 

(8)  Loughmoney,  parish  of  Bailee,  barony  of  Lecale. 

(9)  Knocknagoney,  parish  of  Holywood  and  barony  of  Castlereagh. 
(10)  Ballyregan,  parish  of  Dundonald  and  barony  of  Castlereagh. 
(n)  Moneyrea,  parish  of  Comber,  barony  of  Castlereagh. 

(12)  Whitehills,  parish  of  Saul,  barony  of  Lecale,  and  immediately  adjoins  townland  of 
Ballynarry. 

(13)  In  the  rental  and  survey  of  Downpatrick  estate  A.D.  1708,  Cargaghnahawly  is  returned 
as  a  subdenomination  of  present  townland  of  Annacloy,  and  is  still  known  as  Cargagh. 

(u)  "  Wil  Fitz-Symons  of  Ball)iiarry,  in  Co.  Downe,  was  seized  of  town  and  lands  ot 
Ballynarry  containing  120  acres."  He  mortgaged  same  in  consideration  of  ,£300  to  Wil 
Bridges  of  Downe,  but  redeemed  same  on  1  May,  1635  (Uk  Inq.,  61,  Car.  1). 

By  Letters  Patent,  August  10,  14  Charles  I.,  there  were  granted  to  Nicholas  Fitzsimons, 
amongst  other  lands,  the  lands  of  Ballynegarrick,  one  half  of  the  town  and  lands  of  Ballinarry, 
both  in  barony  of  Lecale.  He  was  also  possessed  of  other  lands  in  Lecale;  viz.,  Kilclief  and 
Carrowshuck — otherwise  Cawrashoake.  On  26  December,  1655,  he  obtained  a  conveyance 
in  fee  from  Symon  Jordan  of  the  lands  of  Dunsford,  the  quarter  of  Tollonsally,  the  lands  of 
Lismore,  the  town  and  lands  of  Crewe,  a  castle,  seven  tenements,  and  three  acres  of  land  in 
the  town  of  Ardglass.  On  5  November,  1662.  the  said  Nicholas  Fitzsimons  filed  his  claim 
before  the  Commissioners  for  Forfeited  Estates,  in  which  he  set  forth  the  said  conveyance 
from  Symon  Jordan,  and  that  he  had  entered  into  the  lands  comprised  therein,  and  continued 
in  possession  until  expelled  therefrom  by  the  "  late  usurpers."  By  decree  of  said  Commis- 
sioners, dated  20  June,  1663,  it  was  declared  that  the  said  Nicholas  Fitzsimons  was  an  inno- 
cent Protestant,  and  that  the  said  Symon  Jordan  was  in  his  lifetime,  and  until  his  death,  an 


88  THE   WARS   OF    164I    IN    COUNTY   DOWN. 

innocent  Papist ;  and  the  said  Nicholas  Fitzsimons  was  ordered  to  be  restored  to  the  lands 
he  had  so  purchased  from  Symon  Jordan.  By  a  trust  deed  executed  by  Nicholas  Fitzsimons 
in  1665,  it  would  appear  that  he  then  had  at  least  four  sons  living  ;  viz.,  Henry,  Nicholas, 
Patrick,  and  Bernard.     Nicholas  Fitzsimons  died  prior  to  March  1675. 

(,ft)  There  are  two  townlands  of  this  name;  one  in  barony  of  Ards,  the  other  in  Lecale. 
The  text  apparently  refers  to  former. 

(16)  Henry  Swords  of  Ballydonnell  would  probably  have  been  a  younger  son  or  a  brother  of 
Robert  Swords  of  Ballydonnell,  who  held  extensive  lands  in  Lecale.  This  family  is  styled  in 
the  Inquisitions  "Swords,  alias  Crolly."  By  an  Inquisition  22,  Jas.  I.,  it  was  found  that 
Arthur  Bagnall  was  seized  of  the  reversion  of  certain  townlands,  including  Ballydonnelly, 
which  reversion  "  ys  expectant  upon  the  determination  of  an  estate  tayle  graunted  by  Sir 
Henry  Bagnall,  father  to  the  said  Arthure,  to  Robert  Crally,  al'  Sowrdes,  late  of  Ballydonnell, 
in  Lecahill  (now  Lecale),  and  the  heires  males  of  his  boddy  lawfully  begotten;  the  remainder 
to  Robert  Crally,  supposed  bastard  son  to  the  said  Robert,  and  unto  the  heirs  males  of  his 
body  lawfully  begotten,  to  be  holders  of  the  said  Sir  Henry  and  his  heirs,  by  the  rent  of 
id.  yeerelie." 

(1?)  Now  Carrigs,  a  subdenomination  of  Carnacaville,  parish  of  Maghera. 

(ls)  Hugh  McRoss  Magennes,  on  1  July,  1624,  obtained  a  lease  for  99  years  of  a  carucate 
of  land  in  Aghnemullragh  from  John  Magenesse,  who  was  seized  of  said  lands  in  fee,  with 
others,  including  Carrigs,  mentioned  in  last  note.  Aghnemullragh  was  probably  what  is 
now  known  as  Murlough,  a  townland  adjoining  Carrigs. 

(19)  Hugh  oRony  of  Ballycassane,  on  20  Oct.,  1636,  obtained  a  lease  of  three  townlands 
for  a  term  of  41  years  from  Viscount  Iveagh. 

Inquisition,  Newry,  29  May,  1632.  Brian  Oge  McRory  Magenise  demised  to  Peter 
Hill  of  Downpatrick  \  town  and  lands  of  Drumendowny  for  a  term  of  99  years. 

Peter  Hill  died  16,  May,  1634.  —  Hill,  his  son  and  heir,  was  then  aged  23  years, 
and  married. 


Notes  supplied  by 
The  Right  Rev.  Monsignor  O'Laverty,  m.r.i.a. 

Val  Paine  was  agent  for  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  and  resided  at  Strangford.  He  was  also 
collector  of  the  King's  Customs. 

[In  the  volume  of  State  Papers  relating  to  Ireland,  1633-1647,  edited  by  Robert 
Pentland  Mahaffy,  b.a.,  there  is  on  p.  349,  "Extract  of  a  Letter  from  one  Payne  to  the  Earl 
of  Kildare,  dated  November  21,  1641,  from  Stronesse  (sic).— 'He  defended  Dundrum  with 
vigour,  though  many  of  his  men  leapt  the  walls  and  deserted,  and  he  at  last  came  away ;  and 
his  opponent,  Sir  Con  Magennis,  had  had  1,500.'" 

In  same  volume,  p.  353  -.—Lord  Cromwell  (  Viscount  Lecale)  to  the  King.  — "  My  father 
served  your  Majesty  long  and  faithfully  in  Ireland.  I  am  happy  to  return  thither,  if  only 
your  Majesty  will  set  some  mark  of  your  favour  upon  me.  My  estate  is  lost  in  the  rebellion. 
I  hope  I  may  have  a  command.  My  father  was  Governor  of  Lecale,  a  place  which  needs  a 
strong  force.     I  should  like  to  have  such  a  post."     Date,  5  Dec,  1641.— T.  F.] 

Richard  Oge  FitzRichard  of  Kilbride. — An  inquisition  taken  at  Downpatrick  27  August, 
1635,  found  that  Richard  FitzRichard  was  seized  of  Kilbride  (near  Killough),  and  died  6th 
of  February,  1629,  and  that  his  son  Richard  was  then  30  years  of  age. 

Patrick  Magrory  of  Clogher. — The  inquisitions  testify  that  Magrory  was  possessed  01 
Clogher,  a  large  townland  one  mile  S.  E.  of  Downpatrick.     See  note  4,  page  87. 

Agholey  oge  McCartan.—  Agholey,  which  in  Irish  is  written  Echmhilidh,  a  knight  or 
horse-soldier,  but  pronounced  nearly  Agholey  as  a  Christian  name  amongst  the  Macartans 
and  O'Hanlons. 

Phelim  McToole  6  Neill,  Lisdalgoc—  Lisdalgan,  parish  of  Saintfield  ["  Lisdalgoe"  in  the 
MS.  deposition.— T.  F.] 

Neill  Roe  o  Kelly,  Contineglar.  — Clontynaglar. 


THE   WARS   OF    1641    IN    COUNTY   DOWN.  89 

George  Merriman  of  Rosse. — Merryman  purchased  Ross  in  1606  from  Nicholas  Russell 
of  Killough. 

Patrick  Russell,  Comanstowne  (MS.)- — Coniamstown,  parish  of  Bright. 

Robert  Awdley  of  Awdleystowne. —  Robert  Awdley,  an  Irish  Papist,  had  Awdleystown 
and  adjoining  lands.  His  son  James  Awdley  conformed.  The  daughter  of  James  Awdley 
married  one  Savage,  and  a  female  heir  of  the  Savages  married  one  Droderici.  Joseph 
Droderici  of  Dublin  sold  the  properly  in  1757  to  Judge  Ward  for  £3,500. 

George  Russell  of  Rathmorc  (MS.). — Rathmullan. 

George  Walsh  of  Walshestowne. — Walshestown,  a  townland  in  the  northern  extremity 
of  the  parish  of  Saul,  contained  a  small  castle,  Walshestown  Castle,  which  belonged  to  a 
family  of  that  name,  who  do  not  appear  to  have  been  at  any  time  important.  Some  of  their 
testamentary  trials  preserved  in  the  Primatial  Records  exhibit  their  poverty.  The  ancient 
name  of  the  place  was  Cnocau-gearr — "the  short  hillock." 

[Inquisition  held  at  Downpatrick  27  August,  1635,  finds  that  Thomas,  Lord  Crom- 
well, was  seized,  inter  alia,  "of  an  annual  rent  of  40/-  out  of  the  town  and  lands  of 
Cnockaneguarne,  alias  Welshestown. "  The  rent  is  still  payable  to  Lord  Dunleath,  the 
present  owner  of  the  Cromwell  estates  in  Lecale. — E.  P.] 

Patrick  McHugh  Ballaghe  6  Doran. — Ballaghanery,  in  Irish  Bealach-an-aodhaire,  "the 
pass  of  the  shepherd,"  which  is  pronounced  as  in  the  name  of  the  townland.  It  is  in  Mourne, 
and  near  the  Bloody  Bridge. 

The  Russells  of  Co.  Down. — According  to  Burke,  the  ancestor  of  the  Russells,  Barons 
of  Killough,  was  a  cadet  of  honour  of  Kingston  Russel,  in  Derbyshire,  who  accompanied 
De  Courcy.     At  an  early  period  the  Russels  had  branched  into  several  families. 

1.  The  Russells  of  Killough,  the  chief  of  whom  was  one  of  the  Palatine  Barons  of 
Ulster.  Nicholas,  the  eleventh  Baron,  sold,  in  1606,  the  townland  of  Ross  to  William 
Merryman  of  Bishop's  Court. 

2.  The  Russells  of  Coniamstown  are  descended  from  a  younger  son  of  George,  the 
ninth  Baron  of  Killough,  who  conferred  on  him  Ballystrew  and  Coniamstown.  After  the 
war  of  1641  Ballystrew  was  allotted  to  William  Brett,  and  Coniamstown  to  the  Duke  of 
York  ;  but  Charles  II.,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  widow  of  the  last  proprietor,  had  these 
grants  revoked,  and  restored  the  lands  to  her  son  Patrick  Russell.  His  son  Valentine  was 
outlawed  by  the  Williamites  in  Banbridge  on  the  20th  of  October,  1696.  The  estate  was 
sold  in  1703  by  the  Trustees  of  Forfeited  Estates,  but  it  was  purchased  by  Lieutenant  Echlin, 
in  trust  for  Patrick,  son  of  Valentine  Russell,  at  the  sum  of  £500  ;  and  thus  it  was  preserved 
for  the  family,  who  still  possess  it.  The  late  Lord  Charles  Russell  of  Killowen  was  descended 
from  a  junior  branch  of  the  Coniamstown  family. 

3.  The  Russells  of  Bright  and  Ballyvaston  were  also  branches  of  the  Killough  family  ; 
they  held  Bright  as  tenants  to  the  Earls  of  Kildare,  themselves  tenants  under  the  See  of 
Down.  The  Russells  of  Ballyvaston  possessed  Ballyvaston,  Ballynagalliagh  (perhaps  only  a 
part  of  it,  now  incorporated  in  Ballyvaston),  Ballynewport,  and  Crolly's  Quarter  :  all  which 
they  held  under  the  Earls  of  Kildare.  The  last  of  this  family  was  Mary,  daughter  of  Richard 
Russell,  who  married  Phelim  Magennis  of  Tullymore,  whose  estates  are  inherited  by  his 
descendant,  Lord  Roden. 

4.  The  Russells  of  Rathmullan  were  also  an  early  offshoot  from  the  Barons  of  Killough. 
The  manor,  consisting  of  the  entire  parish  of  Tyrella  (except  Carrickinab),  Rathmullan, 
Ballyplunt,  and  Islandban,  became  forfeited  by  the  attainder  of  George  Russell,  who  was 
slain  at  the  battle  of  Skirfolas,  near  Letterkenny,  on  the  21st  of  June,  1650.  The  estate  was 
granted  to  one  Hutchinson,  who  sold  one  part  of  it  to  James  Hamilton  of  Erenagh,  and 
another  part  to  Andrew  Graham,  whose  descendants  sold  to  different  parties. 

William  Gibbons  of Ballykinlor  was  possessed  of  the  lands  of  Ballykinlor,  Lismoghan, 
and  Gannymore — "  the  great  sand  " — now  the  military  encampment.  These  lands  were  let 
by  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Christ's  Church,  Dublin,  subject  to  a  rent  of  £5  ;  and  this  lease 
was  purchased  by  John  Gibbons,  a  Dublin  merchant.  They  continued  the  property  of  his 
family  until  about  one  hundred  years  ago.     They  now  form  three  distinct  estates. 

Slutneales. — Sliocht,  the  family  or  race  of  the  O'Neills.     The  territory  embraced  the 


QO  THE  LEGEND  OF  BALLYLONE  FORT. 

parishes  of  Drumbo,  Saintfield,  Killaney,  with  parts  of  Kilmore  and  Knockbreda,  and  such 
portions  of  Blaris,  Lambeg,  and  Druinbeg  as  lie  in  the  barony  of  Upper  Castlereagh. 

Con  boy  Magennis  of  Cukavy  was  a  son  of  Brian  Oge  McRory  Magennis  of  Kilwarlin, 
who  demised  to  Peter  Hill  of  Downpatrick,  on  the  1st  of  November,  1630,  Drumindowney 
for  99  years.  Con  boy's  property  of  Culcavy  and  Drumantanty  (now  a  part  of  Drumatyhue), 
the  property  of  Daniel  Maginn,  passed  into  the  possession  of  Sir  Moses  Hill.  The  townlands 
are  close  to  Hillsborough.  For  correspondence  between  Charles  II.  and  Orinond  regarding 
them  and  petitions  of  Con  boy  Magennis  and  Patrick  Maginn  on  the  matter,  see  History  of 
Down  and  Connor,  vol.  ii,  appendix,  pp.  lx.  to  lxvii. 

William  Reagh  6 Mony  of  Dollen. — Dillen,  parish  of  Downpatrick. 

Philip  Mc  Car  tan  of  Bally nes  roc.  —  Ballystrue. 

Patrick  Mc  Car  tan  of  Loughneiland.  —  Patrick  McCartan  fought  under  Owen  Roe  at 
Benburb.  His  son  John  was  appointed,  in  1689,  one  of  the  Commissioners  for  raising  money 
in  the  county  of  Down  for  King  James's  war  ;  he  died  26  Sept.,  1736;  his  son  Phelomy  died 
27  June,  1751,  aged  82  ;  and  Dominick,  son  of  Phelomy  of  Clanvaraghan,  died  March 
1772,  aged  78.     Their  bodies  are  interred  in  Loughinisland,  in  McCartan's  chapel. 

Muitagh  6  Dcnvir. — Denvir  is  universally  believed  not  to  be  an  Irish  name,  and  should 
not  have  the  O. 

[Each  of  the  three  Denvir  names  on  the  list  of  the  outlawed  has  the  small  circumflexed 
6  prefixed.  Of  course  that  represents  no  more  than  the  notion  of  the  clerk  that  copied  the 
names,  who  would  naturally  regard  them  all  as  the  names  of  Irish  rebels.  — T.  F.  j 

Dromorade. — Drumaroad,  parish  of  Loughinisland. 


The  Legend  of  Ballylone  Fortt  in  the 
County  of  Down, 

By  John  Cardwell. 


IN  the  townland  of  Ballylone,  in  the  parish  of  Magheradroll,  near 
the  townland  of  Bally nahinch,  in  the  county  of  Down,  there 
still  exists  one  of  the  finest  forts  I  have  ever  seen.  It  has 
three  circumvallations,  and  is  nearly  as  complete  as  when  it  left  the 
hands  of  the  workmen.  Around  it  there  still  lingers  the  following 
legend  :  "In  the  inner  circle,  beneath  the  folds  of  an  ample  tent,  on  a 
couch  of  deer-skins,  lay  dying  the  old  chieftain  Fitz-Griffen,  his  lips 
cracked  and  dry  for  want  of  water.  Around  him  stood  a  band  of  his 
warriors,  armed  with  swords  of  bronze  and  bows  of  yew,  with  quivers 
full  of  ashen  arrows.  At  length  the  weak  and  thirsty  chieftain  opened 
his  eyes  and  said,  '  Will  any  of  my  warriors  bring  me  a  drink  of  water 
from  the  south  spring?'     Not  a  single  answer  was  given,  for  well  they 


THE   LEGEND   OF   BALLYLONE   FORT.  91 

knew  that  death  would  be  the  doom  of  anyone  who  ventured  forth, 
for  MacQuillin,  their  foe,  had  drawn  a  cordon  around  the  fort.  At 
length  a  fold  in  the  tent  was  lifted  up,  and  a  beautiful  girl  appeared, 
who  in  soft  tones  said,  '  Father,  I  will  go  '  ;  and  seizing  a  gold-mounted 
drinking  horn,  she  ran  across  the  drawbridge  and  filled  her  horn  at 
the  well,  and  was  returning,  when,  face  to  face,  she  met  MacQuillin. 
'  Maiden,'  he  said,  '  where  are  you  going  with  the  water  ? '  '  Father  is 
dying  of  thirst,'  she  replied  ;  'will  you  not  let  him  have  this  drink?'  He 
gazed  at  her  a  moment,  and  burst  into  tears  ;  then,  placing  a  bronze 
trumpet  to  his  lips,  he  blew  a  blast  that  his  rude  followers  knew  to  be 
a  retreat.  A  short  time  afterwards  he  and  his  followers  were  gone  for 
ever.  The  much-needed  water  and  the  raising  of  the  siege  so  acted 
on  the  old  chieftain  that  he  revived  once  more  ;  and  next  day  his  son, 
the  young  chieftain,  was  taken  to  a  cromleac  near  at  hand,  and  his 
foot  placed  in  a  mark  in  the  rock  that  fitted  the  human  foot,  and  his 
hands  placed  on  the  top  stone  of  the  cromleac,  and  he  was  proclaimed 
chieftain  amidst  great  rejoicing.  A  hoary  old  bard  lifted  his  harp, 
and  all  joined  in  a  full  flood  of  music  and  song  in  praise  of  their  own 
glorious  maiden,  the  beautiful  Norah  Fitz-Griffen,  who  saved  their 
chieftain  and  all  the  clan  from  the  hands  of  the  foeman,  doing  what 
their  heroes  had  failed  to  do."  In  the  outer  circle  of  the  fort  there  is  a 
lonely  grove,  and  in  an  old  paper  there  was  entered  the  following 
quaint  note :  "  Here  lies  ye  body  of  John  Whinton,  a  Soldier  in  ye 
army  of  that  brave  Soldier  and  patriot  Henry  Munro."  A  long 
number  of  years  after  Whinton's  death,  which  followed  a  gunshot 
wound  received  whilst  he  was  escaping  from  the  battle  of  Ballyna- 
hinch,  an  old  woman,  worn  and  weak,  brought  a  bunch  of  white 
primroses  and  planted  them  on  his  grave.     She  was  his  sweetheart. 


D 


92  ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D. 

Robert  Vicars  Dixont  D.D* 

(Archdeacon  of  Armagh), 

and  the   Parish   of   Cloghernie. 

By  the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  oe  Belmore,  g.c.m.g. 

(  Continued  from  page  40. ) 

R.  DlXON  stated  that  he  was  indebted  to  Bishop  Reeves  for  the 
following  extracts  from  the  Primatial  Registries  : 

"  I3&7>  June  9.  Intelligence  was  this  day  conveyed  to  the 
Primate  (Sweetman)  at  his  manor  of  Termonfeckin'  (near  Drogheda), 
of  the  death  of  Neal  McCamal,  Rector  of  Termonayncomagn  ;  and  the 
Primate,  fearing,  it  would  seem,  that  the  chiefs  of  the  Irish  clans  in 
the  neighbourhood  would  intrude  some  follower  of  their  own  into  the 
benefice  if  it  lay  long  vacant,  immediately  collated  Maurice  O'Cassidy, 
Canon  of  the  Cathedral  of  Armagh,  to  the  Rectory."  This,  and  the 
circumstance  that  seventy  years  later  one  John  McKathmayle,  or 
McCamal,  was  holding  the  Prebend,  without  the  entire  approval  of  the 
then  Primate,  suggest  the  suspicion  that  the  chiefs  wished  to  make 
the  Rectory  hereditary  in  some  of  their  own  families  ;  as  the  coarb- 
ships  and  erenaghies  had  been  and  were. 

The  following  are  abstracts  of  entries  from  the  Primatial  Registries: 

"  141 2.  Memorandum,  that  Dermot  McGork  hath  a  deed  of  the 
lands  of  Achrych  Duesk,  Molynenor,  and  Molynbeg  (Craignadevesky, 
Mulliamore,and  Mullinbeg),in  our  Lordship  of  Termon, dated  12th  day 
of  January,  141 2." 

1428.  In  an  old  schedule  of  the  Primate's — "Redditus,"  or 
"Revenues  of  the  See  " — about  this  date,  under  the  head  of  "  Redditus 
de  Tullaghoghue,"  occurs  the  entry — "  De  Termonconnyn  £0 .  17  .  5 — 
\  of  the  same  returned  in  1609." 

1435,  July  19.  Denis  O'Lucheran,  collated  to  the  vicarage  of 
Termonconnyn,  vacant  by  the  death  of  Dermot  McGwyrk. 

1441.  In  a  list  of  the  beneficed  clergy  in  the  rural  deanery  of 
Tullaghogue.occur  John  McKathmayl  (McCamul  or  McCawell),  Rector 
of  Argull  (Errigle  Keerogue)'2  and  Prebendary  of  Termon  ;  John 
McGirre,  Vicar  of  Termon. 

1  The  late  Rishop  of  Clogher  [Dr.  Stack]  has  informed  me  that  the  South  parishes  of  Armagh 
diocese  originally  belonged  to  Clogher  [till  annexed  by  Primate  Sweetman,  who  preferred 
Termonfeckin  as  a  residence  to  Armagh]. 

2  An  adjoining  parish. 


ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D.  93 

1441,  May  19.  A  definitive  sentence,  "in  causa  beneficiale," 
pronounced  against  certain  members  of  the  Chapter  of  Armagh,  and 
amongst  them  "also  against  you,  John  McKathmayl,  who  claim  to  be 
Canon  of  our  Cathedral  Church  of  Armagh,  and  Prebendary  of  Termon 
in  the  same,  and  also  Rector  of  Argull,  in  our  collation  and  diocese." 

1441,  Nov.  2.  A  complaint  for  non-residence  at  Argull,  preferred 
against  John  McKathmayl. 

1442,  Dec.  1.  Memorandum  of  a  proposed  exchange  of  the 
Churches  and  Erenaghies  of  Argull,  Termon,  and  Cillessill,1  in  the 
diocese  of  Armagh,  for  the  Church  and  Erenaghy  of  Mucknane,2 
in  the  diocese  of  Clogher,  agreed  upon  between  Primate  Swayne  and 
Peter,  Bishop  of  Clogher.     It  does  not  seem  to  have  been  completed. 

1445,  Nov.  21.  Excommunication,  inter  alia,  against  John 
McKathmayl  for  not  paying  the  Archdeacon  his  proxies  ;  and  also  of 
Percy  McCouralton,  Vicar  of  Termon. 

1469.  Notice  of  the  proceedings  in  the  case  of  a  charge  (substance 
not  stated)  brought  by  Charles  Magoirce  (McGuirk),  clerk,  against 
John  Magirr,  Vicar  of  Termon. 

1544,  July  24.  Collation  of  William  Sloddan  to  the  rectory  or 
prebend  of  the  parish  church    of   St.  (  )  Termonmagwyrke, 

vacant  by  the  death  of  Bernard  Negwynsynan. 

After  the  collation  occurs  the  following  memorandum  :  "  The 
aforesaid  William  hath  promised  with  an  oath  to  serve  in  the 
Cathedral  and  Metropolitan  Church  of  Armagh,  on  account  of  the 
aforesaid  prebend,  or  to  reside  in  the  aforesaid  rectory  or  prebend,  in 
presence  of  the  Most  Reverend,  the  day  and  year  aforesaid." 

At  the  Plantation,  this  parish  appears  to  have  had  an  extensive 
glebe  assigned  to  it.  I  do  not  know  what  the  part  now  in  Termon 
parish  had.  Cloghernie  had  at  Disestablishment,  besides  Cloghernie 
Glebe,  two  extensive  townlands  called  Cloghernie  Glebe  Upper  and 
Mullaghslin — besides  a  large  tithe-rent  charge. 

To  come  to  post-Reformation  times.  From  a  report  dated  1622, 
on  the  "  State  of  the  Dioceses  in  the  Province  of  Ulster,"  certified  under 
the  hands  of  the  respective  bishops  (a  copy  is  in  T.C.D.  Library),  it 
appears  that  Roger  Blythe,  M.A.,  was  then  Incumbent  of  Termon- 
maguirke.  He  was  "  non-resident,  but  goeth  every  third  Sunday 
himselfe,  and  keepeth  a  curate,  Danyell  Hickes,  brought  up  in  the 
college,  and  readeth  Irish  and  English,  to  whom  he  giveth  £10 
per  annum."     The  living  itself  was  worth  £60  a  year. 

1  Killeshil.  a  Muckno,  Castleblanev. 


94  ROBERT    VICARS   DIXON,   D.D. 

There  were  a  parsonage  house  on  the  glebe1  and  a  "  Church  in 
building."  This  looks  as  if  the  church  had  remained  a  ruin  since 
1609  and  before.  The  Archbishop  had  nominated  Roger  Blythe;  but 
by  their  patent  of  1611-12  of  the  manor  of  Finagh,  the  Earl  and 
Countess  of  Castlehaven  had  the  patronage.  Six  years  later,  Sir  Piers 
Crosby,  second  husband  of  Lady  Castlehaven,  appears  by  the 
visitation  book  to  have  been  patron.  The  value  of  the  living  had 
risen  to  £80  a  year,  and  James  Boyke  was  the  curate.  The 
rector  was  unchanged.  At  the  time  of  the  rising  of  the  Irish  in  1641, 
Bishop  Henry  Leslie  of  Down,  etc.,  was  lessee  of  the  emoluments  of 
Termonmaguirk,  which  he  valued  as  being  worth  £80  a  year,  when  he 
afterwards  claimed  compensation  for  his  losses. 

Sir  Win.  Petty,  in  the  Down  survey  of  1657,  reported  :  "  There  are 
standing  in  the  parish  two  churches,  one  at  Ballinecreg  and  another 
at  Cloghernie  Temple ;  and  a  noted  house  upon  the  road  from 
Dungannon  to  the  Omey  called  Sixmilecrosse.'2  The  rivers  of 
Camowan  and  Drumlester  runne  through  the  parish  ;  likewise  the 
rivers  Owen-ne-Coggreeght  and  Druran  (Deroran),  and  the  brooke 
Dromnakill  [between  Drumnakilly  and  Bracky]  water  the  borders 
thereof."  The  Owen-ne-Coggreeght  (the  boundary  river),  now  called 
"  the  Routing  Burn,"  separates  in  part  of  its  course  the  dioceses 
of  Armagh  and  Clogher,  the  parishes  of  Clogher  and  Cloghernie,  and 
the  baronies  of  Omagh  and  Clogher. 

In  the  barony  map  of  the  Down  Survey,  the  first  church  "  in 
building"  referred  to  is  named  "the  Church  in  Aghmarny."  In  the 
parish  map  it  is  shown  as  being  in  the  townland  of  "  Ballinecreg,  alias 
Aghmarney."  This  is  the  church  whose  ruins  stand  near  the  Roman 
Catholic  chapel  above  Carrickmore.  In  former  days  the  rectors  of 
Termonmaguirke  were  inducted  into  the  living  in  its  old  burial-ground. 
Its  chancel  was  destroyed  in  1688.3  Ballinecregisnowcalled  Rockstown. 
In  an  old  vestry  book  is  an  entry,  in  1819,  of  an  assessment  of  £20 
to  assist  in  slating  the  [R.C.]  chapel  at  Termon  old  Church. 

(To  be  continued. ) 


1  I  suppose  near  Carrickmore. 

2  In  the  patent  of  the  fairs  this  place  was  called  Ballynalla,  the  old  name  of  the  townland 
or  ballybetagh.  I  redeemed  their  small  quit  rent  at  twenty-eight  years'  purchase,  charged  in  1880 
by  the  Woods  and  Forests  Department :  but  I  get  no  tolls  out  of  the  fairs.  Ballynalla  was 
probably  a  misspelling  for  Ballyculla  (the  town  of  Cooley),  the  name  of  the  townland  adjoining 
the  present  "  Sixmilecross,"  which  probably  was  originally  part  of  "  Culla,"  or  "Cooley." 

3  Registry  of  Primate  Boyle. 


1^   &?     Miscellanea     &?    ~| 


Note  on  Roughan  Castle,  Co.  Tyrone. 

In  my  paper  on  the  Old  Castles  of  County  Tyrone,  in  the  special  volume  of  the  Ulster  Journal 
of  Archeology,  at  page  42,  I  mentioned  Roughan  Castle,  in  the  precinct  of  Mount  joy  and 
barony  of  Dungannon.  I  then  had  failed  to  identify  it.  I  have  now,  however,  got  a  plan  and 
photograph  of  it ;  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  the  Plantation  Castle  which 
Pynnar  found  Andrew  Stuart,  son  of  Lord  Uchiltree  (afterwards  Lord  Castlestuart),  building 
in  16 1 8.     Pynnar  says: 

"  C.  L.    1,000  acres. 
"  Robert  Stewart  was  the  first  Patentee. 
"Andrew  Stewart,  son  of  the  Lord  Uchiltree,  hath  one  thousand  acres  called  Ballyne- 
kenan.    Upon  this  there  is  now  in  building  a  small  Castle,  twenty  feet  square ;  it  is  two  Stories 


'■S';  &$£"*■ 


From  a  Drawing  by  Jack  S?eJs. 


high  ;  the  Bawne  is  laid  out  to  be  Sixty  feet  square,  and  of  that  there  is  but  one  ot  the  sides 
begun,  some  eight  feet  high  ;  but  the  Workmen  are  hard  at  Work,  and  have  promised  to 
make  haste. 


96 


NOTES   AND   QUERIES. 


Total  ten  Families,  who  with 
their  Undertenants,  are  able 
to  make  32  Men  with  Arms." 


"  I  find  planted  and  estated  upon  this  Land  of  British  Tenants, 
Freeholders,  2,  viz. 
I  having  240  acres, 

1  having  120  acres. 
Lessees  for  years,  8,  viz. 

2  having  240  acres  le  piece, 

3  having  120  acres  le  piece, 

1  having     60  acres, 

2  having  120  acres  jointly,        J 

I  have  received  from  the  Countess  of  Castlestuart,  through  James  H.  Staples  of  Lissan, 
an  extract  from  a  "Genealogical  and  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Stuarts  of  Castlestuart" 
referring  to  Roughan  Castle  thus  : 

"The  Castle  of  Roughan,  a  place  then  of  some  importance;  which  afforded  a  strong 
and  convenient  dwelling  place.  Roughan,  or  Roughan  Castle,  situated  near  a  small  inland 
lake,  is  said  to  have  been  built  by  the  Lord  Deputy  Sydney,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
to  curb  the  Northern  Irish  ;  but  was  held  by  the  Earl  of  Tyrone  during  his  rebellion.  It  is 
still  in  good  preservation"  (see  Lewis's  Topographical  Dictionary  of  Ireland;  Article, 
"  Donaghenry"  ;  who  adds  :  "and  in  the  war  of  1641,  by  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill,  who  placed  a 
powerful  garrison  in  it :  it  was  afterwards  dismantled,  by  order  of  Parliament,  and  is  now 
(1S37)  a  picturesque  ruin"). 

The  latter  statement  may  very  possibly  be  correct  (except  that  the  garrison  could  not 
have  been  very  large),  as  I  am  informed  that  there  is  a  local  tradition  that  Sir  Phelim 
O'Neill,  having  taken  refuge  on  an  island  in  Roughan  lake,  was  betrayed  by  the  barking  of 
his  dog  .  .  .  and  captured  ;  and  he  was  subsequently  executed.  But  as  there  is  no 
trace  of  any  castle  at  Ballyokenan,  in  the  Baronial  Map  of  Dungannon  in  1609,  nor  indeed 
on  the  General  Map  of  Ulster  of  circa  1598,  I  very  much  doubt  that  Sydney  was  the  builder 
of  Roughan  Castle  ;  although,  of  course,  he  may  have  built  some  fort  there  or  thereabouts, 
which  Andrew  Stewart  may  have  used  as  a  quarry — more  Hibemico. 

I  understand  that  the  castle  is  leased  at  present  to  —  Robinson,  who  is  bound  by  his 
lease  to  keep  its  walls  unimpaired. 

Note. — At  page  4  of  the  special  volume,  line  10,  for  "1693-4"  reat'  "!593~4-" 
P.  51,  note,  last  line,  omit  "of  the"  before  "them."  P.  125,  line  10,  before  "daughter" 
read  "surviving,"  and  refer  to  the  Bishop's  legacy  to  Sir  Henry's  children  at  p.  128. 

The  Earl  of  Belmore. 


) 


Notes  and  Queries* 

This  column  is  open  to  readers  desirous  of  obtaining  or  imparting  information 

on  questions  of  interest  and  obscure  points  of  historical  lore 

relating  to  the  district. 


< 


*&   <T 


Cairdie-Sinclair. — Can   any  of  your    readers  explain  why  or  how,  in   the  north    01 
Antrim  (and  probably  elsewhere),  Cairdie  is  a  synonym  for  Sinclair?  C.  H.  B. 

Shane's  Castle. — Can  anyone  tell  me  when  the  ruined  buildings  at   Shane's  Castle 
were  erected,  and  when  Eden-dubh-Carrig  first  became  a  residence  of  the  O'Neills  ? 

M.  H.  F.  Collis. 


<^ 


7, 


ULSTER  JOURNAL  OF 

ARCHAEOLOGY 


Volume  X JULY   1904 


Number  3 


sb 


KniTK.n  by  FRANCIS  JOSKPH  BIGGER,  m.r.i.a.,  Ardrie,  Belfast. 


The  Speaker's  Chair  and  the  Mace  of  the 
Irish  House  of  Commons* 


BOTH 
valuable  his- 

toric      relics 

are  preserved  in  Ulster 
and  in  the  County 
Antrim.  They  are  in 
the  possession  of  Lord 
Massereene  of  Antrim 
Castle  —  the  chair 
being  the  central  fea- 
ture of  the  oak  room 
in  the  castle;  the  mace 
safely  deposited  in  the 
strong-room  of  the 
Ulster  Bank  in  Bel- 
fast. The  accompany- 
ing picture  of  the  chair 
gives  an  accurate  idea 
of  its  surroundings 
and  the  care  with 
which  it  is  treated. 
The  panelled  back- 
ground is  the  old 
oaken  door  of  Antrim 
Church,  still  showing 
the     bullet     marks 


By  John  Vinycomb,  m.r.i.a. 
of   these 


THE    RIGHT    HON.    SIR   JOHN    FOSTER, 

SPEAKER    OF   THE    IRISH    HOUSE   OF   COMMONS. 

From  an  Engraving;  at  Ardrie. 


98        SPEAKER'S  CHAIR  AND  MACE,  IRISH  HOUSE  OK  COMMONS. 

received  during  the  Battle  of  Antrim  on  7  June,  1798.  In  front  of  it  the 
fight  was  fiercest.  I  lere  were  congregated  the  insurgents  in  great  num- 
bers. The  volleys  fired  into  them  by  the  soldiers  from  the  market-house 
have  left  this  evidence  in  the  old  door.  It  is  a  fitting  background  for 
the  Speaker's  Chair.  Of  the  chair  itself  little  is  known.  Well  made, 
strong  and  easy,  not  elaborate  in  any  way,  it  is  doubtless  the  work 
of  some  good  old  Dublin  manufacturer  of  the  days  when  furniture- 
making  was  an  art.  The  back  is  not  high,  and  the  seat  splays  forward. 
Its  last  official  occupant  was  the  Right  Honourable  Sir  John  Foster, 
Speaker  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons.     At  the  Union  he  retained 


THE    IRISH    HOUSE   OK   COMMONS. 
From  the  original  fainting  in  the  possession  of  Sir  William  U'hitla,  Belfast. 

both  his  chair  and  the  mace,  refusing  to  recognise  any  authority  to 
claim  them  from  him.  From  him  they  descended  as  heirlooms  to  his 
son — the  father  of  the  present  retainer  of  them — the  Viscount  Mas- 
sereene  and  Ferrard.  The  mace  is  a  fine  piece  of  silver  work  of  the 
Georgian  period.  It  is  of  silver,  and  of  most  beautiful  workmanship  ; 
is  58  inches  in  length,  and  dates  from  1765-6,  being  the  fifth  year  of 
the  reign  of  King  George  III.  Maces  are  almost  invariably  made  of 
silver.  Plating  was  a  craft  but  little  known  when  most  of  them  were 
made.  The  stem  was  usually  hollow,  and  to  give  firmness  a  rod  was 
sometimes  inserted. 


SPEAKER'S  CHAIR  AND  MACE,  IRISH  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS.        99 


Like  most  Irish  maces,  that  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons  varies 
little  in  form  from  its  English  companions,  and  consists  of  a  stem 
with  one  or  two  bosses  or  knops  for  the  readier  holding  of  them,  and 
with  another  larger  one  forming  the  base  ;  the  head  or  top  at  the  other 
extremity  being  the  chief  feature  of  the  mace.  This  head  is  cup-shaped, 
and  bears  on  its  surface  in  relief,  executed  in  repousse,  produced  by 
hammering  and  chas- 
<trk  ing.     The  circumfer- 

ence is  divided  into 
four  panels  or  com- 
partments by  rude 
demi-figures,  ending 
in  conventional  foli- 
age, the  intervening 
spaces  thus  formed 
containing  (1)  the 
royal  monogram  G.R. 
crowned,  (2)  the  harp 
for  Ireland,  (3)  the 
fleur-de-lis  for  France, 
(4)  the  rose  and  thistle 
combined  for  Scot- 
land, each  being 
crowned  and  placed 
between  the  royal 
initials  G.R. 

It  may  be  worth 
noting  that,  while  the 
fleur-de-lis  (which  was 
not  displaced  till  the 
union  with  Ireland  in 
1 801)  and  the  harp 
from  the  royal  arms  represented  France  and  Ireland  singly,  England 
and  Scotland  were  represented  by  the  rose  and  thistle  combined,  and 
not  by  the  lions  triple  and  single  from  the  arms  on  the  royal  shield. 
The  shamrock  was  not  introduced  as  an  emblem  of  Ireland  until 
5  November,  1800,  when  it  was  royally  recognised  in  the  order  of 
council  of  George  III.  as  forming  jointly  with  the  Tudor  rose  and  the 
thistle,  royally  crowned,  the  special  badge  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
The  head  or  bowl  is  supported  by  four  handle-like  scroll  brackets  of 


THE   SPEAKER  S    MACE. 
Photo  by  R.    Welch. 


THE    HEAD   OF   THE    SPEAKERS 
MACE. 

Photo  by  R.   Welch. 


IOO 


THE    LEGEND   OE   SAINT    MOCHAOI   OF   OENDRUIM. 


elegant  design,  with  satyr  heads  on  the  upper  part.  The  stem,  with 
its  projection  or  knops,  is  enriched  throughout  with  tastefully  executed 
repousse  ornamentation.  The  coronet,  which  encircles  the  top,  corre- 
sponds to  the  lower  portion  of  the  royal  crown,  from  which  spring 

high  arched  bands,  uniting 
in  the  middle  to  form  a 
closed  crown,  and,  like  it, 
surmounted  by  the  orb  or 
mound,  on  which  is  set  a 
maltese  cross,  as  in  the 
royal  crown.  The  fiat  head 
of  the  mace  within  the 
arches  of  the  crown  is  six 
inches  in  diameter;  presents 
a  large  surface  for  artistic 
treatment  ;  on  it,  embossed 
in  high  relief  repousse  work, 
is  the  royal  arms  within  the 
garter,  with  crest,  motto, 
and  supporters  complete. 
The  punch  marks  upon  the 
silver  are  (i)  the  letters  J.S.,  (2)  lion  passant,  (3)  leopard's  face  crowned, 
(4)  a  Gothic  K.  The  latter  mark  gives  the  year  of  its  manufacture 
1765,  and  the  lion  denotes  that  it  was  made  in  England.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  find  the  origin  or  cause  of  its  being  made,  nor  do  I  know 
whether  it  was  preceded  by  an  earlier  mace.  Perhaps  this  short  notice 
may  bring  such  facts  to  light. 


ROYAL    ARMS   ON    THE    SPEAKER  S    MACE. 
Photo  by  R.   Welch. 


The  Legend  of  Saint  Mochaoi 
of  Oendruim* 

By  se<\im\s  h.  ocufsfn. 


SAINT  MOCHAOI  was  bom  about  420  A.D. ;  founded  the  abbey 
of  Oendruim  (pronounced  Endrim  ;  i.e.,  "  the  single  ridge  "),  on 
the  beautiful  island  bearing  that  name,  about  450  ;  and  died 
in  the  year  496  or  497.     For  several  centuries  the  abbey,  in  which 


THE  LEGEND  OF  SAINT   MOCHAOl  OF   OENDRUIM.  IOI 

education  and  monasticism  were  combined,  occupied  a  prominent  posi- 
tion, and  from  it  emanated  a  number  of  subsequent  founders  of  similar 
institutions.  Between  974  and  1178  history  is  silent  in  regard  to  it  ; 
but  it  is  certain  that,  from  its  position  on  Loch  Cuan  (Strangford), 
which  was  infested  by  Danish  marauders,  it  came  in  for  a  large  share 
of  their  devastating  attentions.  From  its  affiliation,  in  1178,  with  an 
English  religious  establishment,  it  seems  to  have  fallen  into  a  condition 
of  decay  ;  and  in  1450  it  is  simply  noted  as  a  parish  church  in  the 
charge  of  the  Bishop  of  Down. 

The  island  of  Oendruim — or,  as  it  is  now  called,  Mahee,  from  Inis 
Mochaoi,  in  memory  of  its  patron  saint  and  founder — is  situated  most 
picturesquely  on  Strangford  Lough, about  seven  miles  from  Comber,and 
is  approachable  on  foot  or  car  by  a  fine  modern  causeway,  which  crosses 
an  intervening  island.  On  the  shore  end  of  the  island  may  be  seen 
many  remains  of  the  stone  buildings  which  superseded  the  original 
wooden  structures  in  the  history  of  this  venerable,  romantic,  but 
popularly-neglected  shrine.  These  remains  include  the  stump  of  a 
round  tower  ;  traces  of  extensive  foundations,  once  partially  laid  bare 
by  the  late  Bishop  Reeves,1  and  now  almost  entirely  hidden  from  sight 
again  ;  the  site  of  the  harbour,  where  anchored  "  ships  "  from  Britain  ; 
evidences  of  a  God's-acre,  hallowed  by  long  time  and  association  ; 
and  a  fairly  complete  castle  of  a  later  period.  The  circuit  of  the 
island  can  be  made  on  foot  leisurely  in  a  couple  of  hours,  and  the 
walk  affords  a  view  of  the  extensive  waters  of  the  once  Dane-infested 
lough,  the  distant  hoary  walls  of  Greyabbey,  the  haunts  of  Saint 
Patrick,  the  scene  of  the  death  of  Ollamh  Fodhla,  and  the  daring 
and  unscrupulous  deeds  of  De  Courcy,  and  many  other  places  of 
interest. 

bAite--o]\Aijin  (Ballydrain) — about  half-way  between  Comber  and 
Mahee  Island — is  so  called  from  boole,  a  place,  and  "OjiAijin,  a 
blackthorn  tree  ;  and  the  reader  will  observe  the  connection  between 
this  place  and  the  story.  No  trace  of  a  church,  however,  has  yet  been 
discovered  at  Ballydrain. 

RuT>|iAi-oe  (pronounced  Rury)  is  the  modern  Dundrum  Bay. 

The  idea  contained  in  the  following  verses  has  been  variously 
rendered  by  several  eminent  authors.  The  incident  in  which  it  is  here 
embodied  may,  however,  be  fairly  claimed  as  the  oldest  version — the 
original  in  fact. 

1  Note,  vol.  viii,  p.  13. 


102  THE    LEGEND   OF   SAINT    MOCIIAOI   OF   OENDRUIM. 

Quoth  good  Saint  Mochaoi  of  Oendruim  : 

"  I  will  build  for  Christ  my  master 
Here  a  church,  and  here  defend  Him 
And   His  cause  from  all  disaster." 
Seven  score  youths  cut  beam  and  wattle  ; 
Seven  score  hands  unseared  in  battle 
Their  unstinted  aid  did  lend  him, 
Fast  and  ever  faster. 

But  though  arm,  and  voice  loud-ringing, 

To  a  test  of  toil  defied  him, 
Right  and  left  the  wattles  flinging, 
Not  a  tongue  could  dare  deride  him  ; 
For,  before  them  all,  he  stood 
Finished,  waiting.     Not  a  rood 
From  the  spot  a  bird  was  singing 
In  a  thorn  beside  him. 

Sang  no  bird  in  ancient  story 

Half  so  sweet  or  loud  a  strain  : 
Seaward  to  the  loch  of  Rudraide, 
Landward  then,  and  back  again 
Swelled  the  song,  and  trilled  and  trembled 
O'er  the  toiling  youths  assembled, 
Rang  around  'mid  summer  glory 
There  at  Baile-draigin. 

Far  more  beautiful  the  bird  was 

Than  the  bright-plumed  bird  of  bliss, 
And  the  Abbot's  feeling  stirred  was 
To  its  deepest  depths,   I  wis ; 
'Til,  as  from  the  fiery  splendour 
Moses  saw,  in  accents  tender 

Spake  the  bird,  and  lo  !  the  word  was  : 
"  Goodly  work  is  this." 

"  True,"  quoth  Saint  Mochaoi  of  Oendruim, 

"  'Tis  required  by  Christ  my  master 
Here  to  build,  and  here  defend  Him 
And  His  cause  from  all  disaster  : 
But  my  blood  mounts  high  with  weening 
Of  this  gracious  word  the  meaning." 
Nearer  then  the  bird  did  tend  him, 
Fast  and  ever  faster. 

"  I  shall  answer.     I  descended 

From  mine  angel  soul's  compeers, 
From  my  home  serene  and  splendid 
To  this  haunt  of  toil  and  tears  ; 
Came  to  cheer  thee  with  a  note 
From  an  angel's  silvern  throat." 

Then  he  sang  three  songs  :  each,  ended, 
Made  a  hundred  years. 


THE   LEGEND   OF   SAINT   MOCHAOI   OF   OENDRUIM.  103 

There,  through  days  that  dawned  and  darkened, 

With  his  wattles  by  his  side, 
Stood  the  island  Saint,  and  hearkened 
To  that  silvery-flowing  tide  ; 
Stood  entranced,  and  ever  wonder'd 
'Til  had  circled  thrice  a  hundred 

Years,  o'er  fields  life-lade  or  stark,  and 
Cuan's  waters  wide. 

Then,  when  came  the  final  number, 

Ceased  the  angel-bird  its  strain, 
And,  unheld  by  ills  that  cumber 
Mortals,  sought  the  heavenly  plain. 
Then  the  Saint,  in  mute  amaze, 
Round  him  turned  an  anxious  gaze, 
And  from  that  far  land  of  slumber 
Came  to  earth  again. 

There  his  load,  'mid  weed  and  flower, 

Lay  beside  him  all  unbroken, 
'Til,  with  thrice  augmented  power, 
From  his  holy  dream  awoken, 
Up  he  bore  it  to  his  shoulder, 
Broad,  and  not  a  hand's-breadth  older. 
Scarce,  thought  he,  had  passed  an  hour 
Since  the  bird  had  spoken. 

Toward  his  island  church  he  bore  it. 

Lo  !  an  oratory  gleaming, 
And  "  To  Saint  Mochaoi "  writ  o'er  it. 

"Now,"  quoth  he,   "in  truth  I'm  dreaming. 
Say,  good  monk,  at  whose  consistory 
Shall  I  solve  this  mighty  mystery, 
And  to  form  of  fact  restore  it 
From  this  shadowy  seeming  ?  " 

So  he  spake  to  one  who  faced  him 

With  a  look  of  mild  surprise, 
One  who  swiftly  brought  and  placed  him 
'Neath  the  Abbot's  searching  eyes. 
Leave  him  there.     Not  mine  to  rhyme  of 
Deeds  that  filled  the  later  time  of 

Him  who,  fain  though  years  would  waste  him, 
Ages  not  nor  dies. 

Ends  the  wondrous  old-time  story 
Of  the  bird's  long,   lethal  strain, 
Sung  through  summers  hot  and  hoary, 
Winters  white  on   mount  and  main  ; 
And  the  monks,   to  mark  the  mission 
Cf  the  bird — so  says  tradition — 

Built  a  church  to  God's  great  glory 
There  at  Baile-draigin. 


104      SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD    DEPUTY   OF    IRELAND. 

Sir  Arthur  Chichestert  Lord  Deputy  of 

Ireland* 

With  some  Notes  on  the  Plantation  of  Ulster. 

By  Francis  Joseph  Bigger,  m.r.i.a. 

(  Continued  from  page  66.) 

HE  Magees,  who  were  an  early  and  once  powerful  sept  of  the 
MacDonnells,  entirely  disappeared  from  Island  Magee  soon 
after  the  massacre  (see  note  at  end)  in  that  place,  and  the  re- 


T 


maining  members  of  the  clan  or  family  settled  along  the  northern  coast 
of  Antrim,  principally  in  the  parish  of  Ramoan.  The  Rev.  George  Hill 
found  a  most  interesting  old  deed  in  the  possession  of  a  humble  tenant- 
farmer  named  Hugh  Magee  on  the  Ballycastle  estate.  The  family  tradi- 
tion is  that  their  ancestors  had  dwelt  in  Island  Magee,  and  that  the  old 
deed  had  been  handed  down  from  father  to  son  for  many  generations. 
And  not  only  so,  but  it  must  have  been  brought  originally  from  Isla  to 
Island  Magee,  most  probably  by  the  leader  of  the  little  colony  which 
came  to  the  latter  place  in  the  time  of  Sorley  Boy.  At  all  events,  the 
deed  was  a  grant  of  the  year  1408  from  Donnell  MacDonnell,  King  of 
the  Isles,  to  Brian  Vicar  Magee,  in  consideration  of  certain  military 
services  rendered  by  the  latter,  and  it  conveyed  to  the  grantee  extensive 
lands  in  one  of  the  most  desirable  localities  in  Isla.  The  document 
was  written  on  goat-skin,  and  expressed  in  pure  good  Irish — the  Irish, 
as  Dr.  O'Donovan  expressed  it,  spoken  in  the  County  Roscommon — 
but  the  language  was  so  contracted  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  read, 
and  when  completely  written  out,  it  covered  at  least  three  times  the 
space  of  the  original.  It  was  carefully  translated  by  Dr.  O'Donovan, 
and  as  carefully  edited  by  Bishop  Reeves  ;  and  thus  prepared,  it  was 
published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy.  The  Isla 
deed  was  then  returned  to  its  owner,  Hugh  Magee,  and  not  long  after- 
wards the  late  Cosmo  Innes  of  Edinburgh  wrote  to  the  Rev.  George 
Hill,  asking  if  he  also  could  have  a  loan  of  it;  but  as  the  owner  was  a 
poor  man,  and  as  the  MS.  might  be  likely  to  receive  some  injury  from 
the  Scottish  difficulty  in  having  it  deciphered,  George  Hill  suggested 
that  Magee  should  have  some  compensation  for  lending  it.  By  return, 
a  sum  of  £$  was  sent  to  the  lender — and  not  too  much — for  the  Scotch 
manipulators  had  used  some  terrible  solution  in  their  desperate 
attempts  at    reading   the  document,  and  it  was  thus  very  seriously 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.       105 

injured.  However,  Cosmo  Innes  afterwards  offered  to  purchase  it  for 
^5, and  to  deposit  it  for  safe  keeping  in  the  Register  House, Edinburgh; 
and  as  the  money  was  really  of  more  value  to  Hugh  Magee  than  his 
very  small  scrap  of  withered  goat-skin,  the  bargain  was  soon  made. 
Brian  Vicar  Magee's  deed  is  the  oldest  really  Celtic  record  in  Scotland. 
It  is  written  in  the  Court  language  of  the  Island  Kingdom,  and  thus 
supplies  most  convincing  proof  of  the  certainty  and  extent  of  the  early 
Dalriadic  emigrations  from  the  Antrim  coast  to  the  Highlands  and 
Isles  of  Scotland. 

But  there  is  something  more  to  be  said  about  Island  Magee.  How 
did  it  come  to  pass  that  whilst  Chichester  had  left  Lower  Clannaboy 
generally  in  utter  desolation  during  his  governorship  at  Carrickfergus, 
there  remained  in  Island  Magee  a  thriving  and  contented  population, 
although  it  was  composed,  in  almost  equal  numbers,  of  English  and 
Scottish  settlers  ?  The  simple  solution  of  this  apparent  mystery  is 
that  Chichester  had  already  somehow  become  the  practical,  if  not  the 
rightful,  owner  of  this  much  coveted  corner  in  Antrim,  and  that,  as 
such,  he  had  carefully  protected  the  inhabitants  and  encouraged  all 
their  industrial  efforts.  How  he  had  got  possession  of  Island  Magee, 
or  rather  of  the  deed  which  had  conveyed  a  crown  grant  thereof  to 
another,  has  never  been  known,  and  probably  never  will  be  known. 
When  Walter  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  had  ignominiously  failed  as 
Governor  of  Ulster  in  1573,  he  besought  the  Queen  to  let  him  have  a 
crown  grant  of  the  fertile  district  known  as  Farney  in  the  county  of 
Monaghan,  and  of  Island  Magee  in  the  county  of  Antrim,  to  which  he 
might  retire  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  To  this  request  Eliza- 
beth consented,  granting  the  two  places  now  named  in  two  separate 
deeds.  But  Essex  had  hardly  time  to  reach  Dublin  from  the  north 
when  he  was  poisoned  by  an  emissary  from  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  who 
had  taken  possession  of  his  wife  in  his  absence,  and  the  deeds  afore- 
said then  came  into  the  possession  of  his  son,  Robert,  the  second  and 
last  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex.  Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the 
war  against  the  Northern  Lords,  young  Essex  was  sent  to  Ireland, 
but  was  soon  found  to  be  no  match  for  Hugh  O'Neill,  the  Earl  of 
Tyrone,  either  as  a  military  leader  or  diplomatist — so  his  private 
enemies  in  England  represented.  But  his  unpopularity  there,  it  was 
said,  arose  chiefly  from  the  fact  that  he  would  willingly  have  conceded 
O'Neill's  more  moderate  demands.  This  policy,  of  all  others,  how- 
ever, could  not  for  a  moment  be  thought  of,  for  it  would  have  at  once 
extinguished  all  hopes  of  an  Ulster  plantation.    Essex  returned  hastily 


106      SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

and  angrily  to  London,  and  presuming  too  much  on  his  former  inti- 
macy with  the  Queen,  he  carried  himselt  too  carelessly  and  boldly 
among  his  secret  enemies  at  Court,  lie  was  soon  goaded  into  a  sort 
of  revolt,  formally  tried,  and  hastily  executed  ;  Elizabeth  being,  no 
doubt,  well  pleased  to  have  him  out  of  the  way — the  romantic  story 
of  the  ring,  notwithstanding.  But  his  deed  of  Island  Magee  had  got 
into  Chichester's  hands,  and  there  is  no  hint  from  the  Inquisition  of 
1605  as  to  how  it  came  there,  and  not  even  a  word  explanatory  of  the 
exceptional  peace  and  prosperity  in  Island  Magee  at  the  date  above- 
named.  Old  Richard  Dobbs,  who  knew  most  things  about  Island 
Magee,  was  entirely  ignorant  on  this  point,  although,  as  he  tells  us,  he 
had  actually  handled  the  original  deed  to  Essex,  and  had  inquired 
much  about  its  being  found  in  Chichester's  possession.  Sir  Moses 
Hill,  having  so  many  of  his  own  name  and  kindred  in  the  place,  rented 
it  from  the  Lord  Deputy,  and  eventually  got  from  him  a  lease  of  it. 
In  1606,  the  year  following  the  Inquisition  at  Antrim,  Chichester 
came  from  Dublin  with  a  great  flourish  of  trumpets  as  Lord  Deputy, 
ostensibly  to  put  two  or  three  Irish  into  certain  lands  in  Lower  Clan- 
naboy,  but  really  to  see  after  his  own  interests  there,  as  well  as  those 
of  his  former  officers  and  associates  in  the  garrison  at  Carrickfergus. 
This  journey  to  the  North  was  undertaken  to  initiate  the  plantation 
movement  in  Antrim,  which  was  then  in  progress  throughout  the 
greater  part  of  the  county  of  Down,  under  the  superintendence  of  Sir 
Hugh  Montgomery  and  Sir  James  Hamilton,  and  which  was  so  soon 
to  commence  in  the  other  counties  of  Ulster.  Before  this  visit  of 
Chichester  in  1606,  the  territory  of  Killultagh  had  belonged  neither 
to  Down  nor  Antrim,  but  stood  per  se,  although  its  inhabitants  co- 
operated freely  in  all  public  movements  with  those  of  the  adjoining 
counties.  It  was  then  arranged,  however,  that  Killultagh  would  per- 
manently become  a  part  of  Antrim,  and  this  decision  was,  of  course, 
chiefly  influenced  by  the  fact  that  the  River  Lagan  divided  Killultagh 
from  Down.  Chichester  next  went  through  the  form  of  replacing  the 
principal  family  of  the  O'Neills  of  Lower  Clannaboy — namely  the 
branch  seated  at  Edenduffcarric  (Shane's  Castle) — in  portions  of  their 
own  lands.  This  family  was  then  represented  by  two  brothers,  Shane 
and  Hugh,  the  sons  of  Sir  Brian  MacFelim  O'Neill,  who  had  been 
treacherously  seized  by  Essex  at  a  banquet  in  the  vicinity  of  Belfast, 
given  by  O'Neill  in  honour  of  Essex.  Sir  Brian  was  not  slain  when 
captured,  but  was  sent  to  Dublin,  where  he  was  soon  afterwards  hanged 
at  the  castle  for  having  held  Southern  Clannaboy  against  one  Thomas 


SIR  ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.       I07 

Smith,  the  illegitimate  son  of  the  well-known  Sir  Thomas  Smith, 
Home  Secretary  for  Elizabeth.  These  Smiths,  father  and  son,  had 
got  a  crown  grant  from  the  Queen  of  all  Clannaboy,  north  and  south, 
and  when  the  son  landed  with  a  great  number  of  soldiers — settlers,  to 
plant  the  Ards — his  whole  company  was  quickly  dispersed  by  an  Irish 
force,  and  he  himself  captured  and  slain  at  a  place  called  Ballycastle, 
near  the  present  Mountstewart,  in  the  Ardes,  his  body  being  afterwards 
thrown  to  the  dogs.  Sir  Brian  MacFelim  had  enjoyed  for  a  time 
the  distinguishing  title  of  "  the  Queen's  O'Neill,"  and  had  received  an 
English  knighthood  for  assisting  the  Queen's  Government  in  seizing 
his  own  uncle,  the  chieftain  of  Upper  or  Southern  Clannaboy,  and  his 
uncle's  son,  who  were  both  forwarded  to  Dublin,  where  they  died  in 
the  castle.  Sir  Brian  hoped  to  succeed  his  uncle,  but  he  was  very 
quickly  and  terribly  undeceived.  His  two  sons,  however,  above-named, 
because  they  had  assisted  the  Lord  Deputy,  Sir  John  Perrot,  when 
fighting  against  the  Antrim  Scots,  were  believed  to  have  a  sort  of 
claim  on  their  own  lands  in  Lower  Clannaboy ;  so  Chichester  replaced 
them  in  the  three  sub-territories  of  Muinter  Callie,  Muinter  Rindy,  and 
Muinter  Murrigan — the  elder  Shane  to  have  two  territories,  and  Hugh, 
the  younger,  to  have  one.  The  sub-territory  of  Magheramorne  had 
formerly  belonged  to  this  family,  and  was  greatly  preferable  to  any 
of  the  others  now  named  ;  but  it  was  coveted  by  Sir  Henry  Bagnall, 
the  Field  Marshal  of  Ulster,  when  he  came  to  the  North  in  1584  to 
oppose  Sorley  Boy ;  and  when  Shane  O'Neill  was  afterwards  going 
to  Dublin,  he  was  seized  by  Bagnall  on  some  pretence  at  Newry,  and 
actually  kept  a  prisoner  there  until  he  had  signed  away  to  Bagnall  his 
entire  right  and  ownership  of  Magheramorne.  His  younger  brother 
died  first,  so  that  Shane  became  lord  of  the  whole  three  sub-territories 
already  named,  and  built  the  Shane's  Castle,  which  has  since  supplanted 
the  old  name  of  Edenduffcarric. 

Another  native  claimant,  then  placed  in  Lower  Clannaboy,  was 
Rorie  Oge  MacQuillin,  who,  although  a  native  of  the  Route,  had  lost 
all  his  family  possessions  therein,  but  had  retained  a  sort  of  hold  on 
the  Government,  chiefly  through  his  persistent,  though  futile,  opposition 
to  the  MacDonnells.  His  father  (also  named  Rorie)  had  got,  unfortun- 
ately, into  an  alliance  with  Sir  Brian  MacFelim  O'Neill,  thinking,  no 
doubt,  by  this  means  to  get  restored  to  at  least  a  portion  of  his  lands  in 
the  Route.  As  one  of  Sir  Brian's  principal  friends,  MacQuillin  was  pres- 
ent at  the  banquet  given  by  O'Neill  to  Essex,  at  Belfast,  in  1 573,  and  was 
one  of  those  then  treacherously  seized,  sent  to  Dublin,  and  soon  after- 


108      SIR   ARTHUR  CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY  OF   IRELAND. 

wards  executed.  His  son  was  known  as  Rorie  Oge,  and  in  1606  was 
placed  by  Chichester  in  the  sub-territory  of  Clinagherty,  or  Glenagh- 
erty, including  Ballymena  and  the  country  extending  thence  north- 
ward to  Glenravel.  Young  Rorie  MacQuillin  lived  to  be  an  old  man  ; 
but  before  his  death  he  had  sold  away  all  his  lands  in  Glenagherty, 
and  for  a  time  was  dependent  on  the  kindness  of  settlers,  to  whom  he 
disposed  of  his  property  from  time  to  time  at  merely  nominal  prices, 
or  rather  at  so  much  as  they  proposed  to  give.  The  fine  estate  in  and 
around  Ballymena,  then  picked  up  by  the  Adairs  of  Dunsky,  is  still 
preserved  in  good  form  ;  but  the  vast  landed  property  owned  in 
Glenagherty  by  the  Colvills,  and  afterwards  by  their  representatives, 
the  Moores,  Earls  of  Mountcashel,  has  long  since  been  broken  up,  and 
is  now  in  the  hands  of  many  holders.  The  MacQuillins  may  be 
emphatically  described  as  an  unfortunate  race  during  their  whole  tribal 
or  clan  existence  in  Ireland.  Their  name  of  MacQuillin,  or  more 
properly  Mac  Uilin,  is  a  contracted  form  of  Mac  Lewellin1 ;  and  on 
leaving  their  own  Welsh  regions,  they  settled  at  first  in  Connacht,  under 
the  De  Burghs,  or  Burkes,  who  were  lords  of  that  province.  One  of 
these  Burkes  married  a  daughter  of  the  younger  Hugh  De  Lacy,  and 
his  representatives  thus  became  Earls  of  Ulster  as  well  as  Lords  of 
Connacht.  From  the  time  that  these  Earls  of  Ulster  brought  the 
MacQuillins  from  Connacht  and  placed  them  in  the  Route,  the  latter 
had  not  literally  "  a  day  to  do  well  " — sometimes  fighting  the  O'Neills, 
at  other  times  the  O'Donnells,  very  often  also  the  O'Cahans,  and  finally 
disappearing  altogether  before  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  MacDon- 
nells.  The  MacQuillins  were  in  the  habit  of  appealing  for  English 
sympathy  and  help  on  the  plea  that  not  one  of  their  leaders  or  head 
chieftains  had  been  known  to  die  in  his  bed — all  such  having  perished 
either  by  assassination  or  on  the  field  of  battle.  It  may  be  stated 
that  when  the  MacQuillins  were  brought  to  the  Route  by  an  Earl  of 
Ulster,  to  assist  in  repressing  the  O'Neills,  the  O'Haras  were  removed 
also  from  Connacht  for  the  same  purpose,  and  placed  in  the  small 
sub-territory  of  Keart,  in  Lower  Clannaboy. 

The  year  after  these  arrangements  had  been  made  in  Antrim, 
Chichester  set  to  work  strenuously,  but  somewhat  covertly  at  first,  in 
preparing  for  a  general  revolution  throughout  Ulster,  by  inundating 
the  province  with  a  flood  of  foreign  settlers.  His  great  move  was, 
by  some  means,  to  dispose  of  the  two  northern  Earls  of  Tyrone  and 

1  The  name  is  now  often  Anglicised  MacKillen,  Killen,  MacWilliam,  Williams,  and  spelt  in 
various  ways. 


SIR   ARTHUR  CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY  OF   IRELAND.       109 

Tyrconnell ;  and,  as  these  men  had  received  re-grants  of  their  lands  from 
the  King,  it  was  represented  by  parties  called  Discoverers  that  these 
re-grants  contained  so  many  and  such  serious  flaws  as  not  to  be  worth 
the  parchment  on  which  they  were  written.  The  Discoverers  were 
generally  needy  English  attorneys,  assisted  occasionally  by  recreant 
Irish,  who  served  as  convenient  witnesses  ;  and  the  lands  thus  dis- 
covered to  be  doubtfully  held  by  the  grantees,  from  flaws  in  their 
deeds,  were  forthwith  handed  over  to  the  Discoverers.  In  the  courts 
of  law  which  Chichester  had  set  to  work,  by  the  assistance  of  Sir  John 
Davys,  the  decisions  in  such  cases  were  invariably  given  against  the 
two  Earls.  The  latter,  on  seeing  their  estates  being  thus  mutilated 
and  seriously  diminished,  warmly  remonstrated  with  the  King,  but  to 
no  purpose.  They  then — naturally  enough — expressed  themselves  at 
times  indignantly  on  the  subject  of  their  wrongs,  and  in  the  presence 
of  high  officials,  who  forthwith  surrounded  them  (the  Earls)  with  spies 
and  detectives,  to  report  any  and  every  act  or  word  which  might  be 
interpreted  as  treasonable.  By  way  of  provocation  in  this  direction, 
Chichester  permitted  Davys,  the  Attorney  General,  to  insult  the  old 
Earl  of  Tyrone  at  the  council  table,  and  he  (Chichester)  even  threat- 
ened the  youthful  Earl  of  Tyrconnell  with  personal  violence  during 
sittings  of  the  council.  But  no  overt  acts,  or  even  objectionable  words, 
could  be  found  against  them  ;  and,  under  these  circumstances — so 
adverse  to  the  planters'  hopes — the  Lord  Deputy  thought  of  a  scheme 
which,  he  supposed,  might  accomplish  what  was  wanted,  but  which 
was  as  vile  and  unscrupulous  as  could  be  imagined.  It  was  known 
that  the  Earl  of  Tyrone  and  his  last  Countess,  Cathrine  Maginnis, 
had  been  living  on  disagreeable  terms,  and  it  occurred  to  Chichester 
that  the  lady  might  be  induced  to  say  something  of  her  husband  which 
could  be  used  against  him.  Accordingly  he  employed  Sir  Toby  Caul- 
field,  one  of  his  most  trusted  emissaries,  to  tamper  with  Lady  Tyrone; 
but  though  Toby  used  his  most  wily  efforts  in  the  business,  he  was 
unable  to  report  anything  to  the  purpose,  the  lady  declaring  in  the 
most  solemn  manner  that  she  had  never  observed  any  act  on  the  part 
of  the  Earl,  and  had  never  heard  from  him  any  words  which  could  be 
considered  disloyal  to  the  King  or  the  Government.  A  letter  among 
the  State  Papers,  written  by  Chichester  to  Salisbury,  refers  to  this 
proceeding,  of  which  even  the  writer  appears  to  have  been  almost 
ashamed,  as  he  apologises  for  his  conduct,  pleading  his  desire  for  the 
welfare  of  the  State.  The  Earl  of  Tyrone  in  the  meantime  had 
announced  his  intention  of  visiting  London  for  the  purpose  of  appealing 


HO      SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND. 

personally  to  the  King,  but  he  was  warned  by  influential  friends  in 
England  against  any  such  adventure,  as  the  Tower  would  certainly 
be  his  destination  there,  and  probably  Tyburn  at  last.  The  Earl  of 
Tyrconnell  had  received  also  frequent  and  reliable  intimations  from 
friends  in  Dublin  that  he  was  to  be  captured  when  passing  there  to 
visit  his  wife's  family  at  Carton,  near  Maynooth.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, only  one  safe  outlet  remained  for  the  doomed  Earls.  After 
consulting  together,  they  went  quietly  away,  accompanied  by  a  few 
personal  friends,  to  Lough  Swilly,  and  thence  sailed  away  on  a  peaceful 
evening  in  the  September  of  1607,  never  halting  until  they  arrived  in 
Rome,  where  some  time  afterwards  they  died  of  grief,  broken-hearted, 
and  were  laid  side  by  side  on  the  Montorio,  the  most  lovely  site  in  the 
Eternal  City  (see  vol.  v,  p.  1 15). 

This  unostentatious  exit  was  instantly  known  amongst  the  English 
in  Ireland  as  the  "Flight  of  the  Earls,"  and  the  theme  for  mutual  and 
delighted  congratulations  wherever  the  planters  met.  It  was  very 
quickly  noised  abroad  also — the  basest  and  most  defamatory  motives 
being  ascribed  to  the  Earls  for  their  unexpected  departure.  But  that 
movement  on  their  part  was  the  consummation  of  all  others  which 
their  enemies  desired,  as  it  saved  much  time,  and  all  at  once  made  an 
immense  clearance  in  the  field  destined  for  plantation.  No  one  spoke 
and  wrote  more  glibly,  or  indeed  in  more  ribald  terms,  on  this  notable 
event  than  Davys,  the  Attorney  General.  Amongst  others,  he  wrote 
a  long  congratulatory  letter  to  the  King,  on  the  two  Earls'  sudden 
flight,  telling  him  that  he  (the  King)  had  thus,  by  his  firm  policy,  done 
a  greater  work  for  the  welfare  of  Ireland  than  even  St.  Patrick  was 
able  to  accomplish  ;  for,  whilst  the  latter  merely  banished  snakes, 
James  extirpated  venomous  and  rebellious  men.  So  soon  as  Tyrone 
and  Tyrconnell  reached  their  several  destinations  on  the  Continent, 
they  wrote  to  the  English  Sovereign,  mentioning  the  fact  of  their 
having  left  Ulster  for  a  time,  and  detailing  very  circumstantially  their 
reasons  for  so  doing.  These  remarkable  letters  were  kept  carefully 
back  from  public  view,  and  have  only  appeared  a  few  years  ago,  and 
during  the  comparatively  recent  process  of  calendaring  the  Irish  State 
Papers  of  the  reign  of  James  I.  Instead  of  permitting  the  exiles  to 
speak  for  themselves,  Chichester  and  Davys  got  arrangements  hastily 
made  for  a  mock  trial  of  the  Earls  at  Strabane,  where  it  was  assumed 
that  they  were  traitors,  because  they  left  without  having  asked  permis- 
sion to  do  so,  and  because  they  sought  refuge  in  countries  which  had 
been  the  ancient  enemies  of  England.     Of  course  they  were  convicted 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.       Ill 

at  Strabane  of  high  treason,  and  sentenced  to  undergo  all  its  penalties, 
amongst  which  the  most  urgent  and  most  important,  in  this  instance, 
was  the  confiscation  of  the  alleged  criminals'  estates.  But  not  a  single 
sentence  of  the  evidence  against  the  Earls  at  that  mock  trial  was  ever 
even  heard  of  afterwards  ;  and  if  it  was  preserved  in  any  form,  its 
existence  or  place  of  concealment  has  never  been  traced. 

(To  be  continued.) 

NOTE. 

The  Massacre  of  Island  Magee. 

This  unpleasant  chapter  has  always  called  forth  considerable  controversy,  but  there  is 
no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  treated  calmly  in  all  its  historic  bearings.  There  should  be  no 
imputation  of  motive  ;  for  where  such  begins,  argument  ends.  The  statement  referring  to  it 
in  the  Ulster  Journal,  vol.  x,  p.  66,  was  given  to  prove  a  friendly  compact  between  a 
Scotch  Presbyterian  clan — the  Hills,  and  an  Irish  Roman  Catholic  clan — the  Magees, 
whereby  the  former  extended  their  aid  and  assistance  to  the  latter  when  the  onslaught  was 
made  in  1641.  Moses  Hill,  the  founder  of  the  Downshire  family,  had  previously  been 
aided  by  the  Magees  after  the  disastrous  fight  at  Ballycarry.  The  late  Rev.  George  Hill, 
a  Presbyterian  minister,  and  facile  piinceps  of  Ulster  historians,  was  of  this  family,  and  the 
words  above  referred  to  are  almost  the  exact  words  used  by  him  in  an  article  on  this  subject, 
the  MS.  of  which  is  in  our  possession.  No  higher  sanction  than  this  can  be  given,  for 
he  was  thoroughly  conversant  with  every  detail  of  the  period.  His  words  are  :  "A  bloody 
raid  was  made  into  Island  Magee  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Scottish  Presbyterian  garrison  at 
Carrickfergus,  on  an  afternoon  of  January,  in  the  year  1641."  This  year  1641  would  now 
be  considered  1642,  as  the  year  then  ended  on  24  March,  commencing  on  25  March; 
January  would  thus  be  the  tenth  month  of  the  year,  three  months  after  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war.  This  point  explains  some  of  the  apparent  difficulties  of  date.  Froude  has  been  quoted 
as  an  authority  on  the  incident,  but  Froude  only  quotes  Reid,  and  that  incorrectly  ;  and  as  we 
have  Reid's  history,  Froude  falls  aside.  But  neither  Froude,  nor  Reid,  nor  Killen,  nor 
Hill,  nor  the  editor  of  the  Ulster  Journal,  is  an  authority  on  an  incident  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  old.  All  that  any  one  of  them  can  do  is  to  quote  contemporary  records  of  the  period, 
and  examine  them  critically.  Let  us  take  a  few  of  these.  In  an  account  of  the  1641  wars, 
written  by  a  British  officer  in  the  regiment  of  Sir  John  Clottworthy,  he  states  that  "Captain 
Lindsay  and  a  troop  of  forty  horsemen  fell  upon  Mr.  Upton's  tenants  at  Templepatrick,  and 
murdered  about  eighty  persons,  men,  women,  and  children  :' — these  were  all  Irish — "  at  which 
other  Scots  took  example  and  did  the  like  at  Island  Magee ."  This  record  is  from  the  pen  of 
an  English  Protestant  officer  who  was  through  the  war. 

There  is  a  Brief  Description  of  the  County  of  Antrim,  written  by  Richard  Dobbs  in  the 
year  1683 — about  forty  years  after  the  Massacre.  In  it  we  find  the  following  :  "  The  next 
parish  we  come  to  is  Island  Magee,  from  the  Magees  that  lived  here  in  former  times,  and 
some  continued  here  of  that  name  to  the  beginning  of  the  late  rebellion  ;  but  then  all 
the  Irish  here  were  murdered  by  Scottish  inhabitants,  or  such  as  came  into  it,  and  fled  from 
the  Irish  in  other  places,  or  as  some  say  by  both,  though  the  people  were  peaceable  and 
quiet."     Richard  Dobbs  was  a  member  of  a  well-known  Protestant  County  Antrim  family. 

Turning  to  the  Trinity  College  depositions,  made  in  1653,  we  find  Bryan  Magee 
deposing  "  the  said  Scotchmen  had  killed  ye  said  Donnell  and  about  ten  persons  more  the 
same  evening,  as  the  said  Bryan  Boy  related  to  him,  and  they  went  all  to  Knockfergus,  and 
Coll.  Hill  not  being  in  ye  garrison  some  Scotchmen  took  them  out  at  ye  gate  and  killed 
ye  said  examinant's  father  and  his  two  brothers  and  Bryan  Hoy  McGee  that  was  wounded  at 
Isle  McGee  ye  night  before." 

Elizabeth  Gormally  deposeth  "  that  a  boy  who  was  a  drummer  belonging  to  ye  garrison 
of  Carrickfergus  met  him  [Bryan  Magee],  and  with  a  Scotch  whinyard  gave  him  a  stab  under 


112       SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD    DEPUTY    OF    IRELAND. 

ye  right  breast  .  .  .  and  then  one  John  Wilson  came  up  to  him  and  drew  out  his 
sword  and  thrust  it  through  yc  neck  of  ye  said  Bryan  McGee,  and  cut  his  throat." 

Captain  James  Cullogh  of  the  Isle  of  Magee  deposed  that  he  was  Captain  of  a  fool 
company  in  this  town  [Carrickfergus] ;  "  being  asked  what  he  could  say  concerning  ye  murder 
of  Owen  Medder  Magee,  Henry  Magee,  and  Bryan  Magee  nere  this  town,  sayeth  that  he 
could  not  tell  who  were  the  actors  in  the  sayd  murders,  otherwise  than  that  he  was  told 
Lt.  Wm.  Dawbyn  doth  acknowledge  himself  to  have  had  a  hand  therein,  and  that  he  would 
justify  the  same,  for  that  he  did  by  orders."  Cullogh  and  Dawbyn  were  both  of  the  garrison 
of  Carrickfergus. 

These  depositions  prove  a  definite  connection  between  the  garrison  of  Carrickfergus  and 
the  massacre  in  Island  Magee. 

Carte  mentions  "the  slaughter  made  by  a  party  from  Carrickfergus." 

Leland  refers  to  "the  Scotch  soldiers  in  particular"  as  guilty  of  the  massacre  of  Island 
Magee. 

Dr.  Reid  states  that  the  perpetrators  of  the  rr  assacre  were  "joined  by  a  few  soldiers 
from  Carrickfergus  .  .  .  and  unhappily  retaliat  ;d  on  the  Roman  Catholic  inhabitants  ot 
that  district." 

Dr.  Killen  states  "  some  soldiers  from  Carrie' rfergus,  accompanied  by  several  strangers 
driven  from  more  distant  districts,  proceeded  to  the  peninsula  of  Island  Magee,  and  on 
Sunday,  the  9th  of  January,  1642  [  164 1  old  calcu'ation],  put  to  death  in  retaliation  not  more 
than  thirty  of  the  Roman  Catholic  inhabitants.      The  deed  cannot  be  justified." 

Dr.  John  MacDonnell,  in  'J'he  Ulster  Civil  War  of  1641,  states  "Scotch  troops  from 
Carrickfergus  perpetrated  a  very  shocking  niassacie  in  the  neighbouring  Island  Magee. 
There  is  no  dispute  as  to  the  massacre." 

These  quotations  are  all  from  Protestant  writers.  It  is  admitted  all  round  that  there 
was  a  massacre,  the  Presbyterian  historians  owning  up  to  thiity  victims,  others  assessing  them 
at  a  much  higher  number.  It  is  also  admitted  that  the  victims  were  Roman  Catholics.  It  is 
obvious  the  murderers  were  not  of  the  same  persuasion.  Who  were  they  ?  There  is  a  consensus 
of  evidence  that  the  Scotch  soldiers  from  Carrickfergus  took  an  active  part  in  the  slaughter,  and 
it  must  be  admitted  that  they  were  assisted  by  others.  Neither  Dr.  Reid  nor  Dr.  Killen 
denies  these  facts,  but  they  strenuously  assert  that  this  was  not  the  first  massacre,  and  that 
it  did  not  give  rise  to  the  other  massacres  that  occurred  elsewhere,  but  was  in  retaliation. 
It  is  true  that  Munro  did  not  land  at  Carrickfergus  with  his  2,50x3  men  until  April  1642  ; 
but  it  is  also  true,  according  to  Wright,  that  1,500  men  had  l>een  sent  to  Ulster  from  the 
lately  disbanded  Scottish  army  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  insurrection,  and  before 
the  massacre. 

The  incidents  of  the  massacre  are  here  alone  dealt  with  in  this  note.  The  causes  leading 
up  to  it  and  its  effects  were  not  referred  to  in  the  Chichester  article,  where  the  incident  is 
only  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  friendly  compact  between  the  families  of  Magee  and 
Hill.  About  this  period,  however,  the  greatest  diversity  of  opinion  has  always  existed. 
There  may  be  some  happy  medium  of  truth  between  the  two  extremes  ;  but  what  must  be 
admitted  is  that  there  was  a  massacre  in  Island  Magee,  the  victims  being  Roman  Catholics, 
and  the  garrison  of  Carrickfergus  amongst  the  perpetrators.  No  good  can  be  gained  by 
suppressio  vert  at  any  time,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  historians  to  proclaim  the  truth  at  all  times 
on  all  subjects,  at  all  hazards. 

Considerable  light  has  been  thrown  on  this  much-disputed  period  in  our  local  history  by 
Dr.  Fitzpatrick  in  his  Bloody  Bridge,  and  in  the  series  of  articles  from  his  pen  now  appearing 
in  the  Ulster  Journal  on  the  wars  of  1641.  He  has  gone  into  the  subject  with  much  learning, 
diligence,  and  careful  comparison,  and  has  treated  it  in  a  critical  manner.  He  has  adduced 
facts  and  figures  with  results  never  attained  by  any  previous  writer  on  the  subject.  He  makes 
havoc  with  the  deductions  of  certain  local  historians,  backed  by  his  fuller  research  and  wider 
views. 

As  it  is  largely  from  such  articles  as  these  of  Dr.  Fitzpatrick  that  parochial  and 
distinctly  local  sketches  are  written,  it  is  our  sole  desire  that  the  whole  truth  should  be 
recorded  :  we,  therefore,  welcome  contributions  from  others,  Editor, 


INISMACSAINT.  113 

Inismacsaint* 

Bv  the  Rev.  J.  E.  MacKenna,  m.r.i.a. 


INISMACSAINT  (1ni|Mrhii5he-r-Ainh — "the  island  of  the  plain  of 
the  sorrel")  is  an  island  in  Lower  Lough  Erne,  about  ten  miles 
from  Enniskillen.  From  a  scenic  standpoint,  it  is  one  of  the 
least  attractive  of  Lough  Erne's  many  islands.  The  tourist  is  quite 
satisfied  with  what  he  sees  of  it  from  the  passing  steamer  ;  and  the 
sportsman,  lured  through  its  waving  grass  by  the  chance  of  a  shot, 
stands  before  its  massive  cross  and  crumbling  ruins  and  asks  in  vain 
for  their  history.  Had  he  or  his  guide  a  copy  of  the  Martyrology  of 
Donegal,  he  might  read  there,  under  the  18th  of  January,  "  Ninnidh, 
Bishop  of  Inis-Muighe-Samh,  in  Loch  Erne  ;  he  was  Ninnidh  Saebh- 
ruise,  who  was  of  the  race  of  Enda,  son  of  Niall.  It  was  he  who  was 
usually  called  Ninnidh."1  Cathal  Maguire  says  of  him:  "A  sage, 
a  bishop,  and  a  king  was  Ninnidh  Mac  Laoighaire.  He  went  to  heaven 
with  his  monks." 

The  acts  of  a  number  of  different  saints  of  this  name  are  so  confused 
and  intermingled  that  it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  determine 
to  which  particular  individual  certain  acts,  that  are  attributed  indis- 
criminately to  each,  should  really  be  assigned.  According  to  Lanigan,'2 
Ninnidh  was  surnamed  Lamhdearg,  to  distinguish  him  from  Ninnidh 
Lamhglan  ("  the  pure-handed  "),  who  was  converted  by  St.  Brigid,3  and 
who  administered  the  last  sacraments  to  her  on  her  deathbed.  Colgan 
confounds  the  two  saints,  and  falls  into  a  number  of  errors,  which  have 
been  copied  by  many  modern  writers.  Shearman4  tries  to  identify 
Ninnidh  of  Inismacsaint  with  St.  Mounenius,  the  founder  of  the 
famous  school  of  Candida  Casa,  who  obtained  the  release  from  slavery 
of  St.  Tigernach,  in  Wales. 

Ninnidh  was  a  cotemporary  of  Sinell  and  Columba,  a  pupil  of  St. 
Finnian  of  Clonard,  and  a  school-fellow  of  St.  Ciaran  of  Clonmacnoise, 
St.  Molaisse  of  Devenish,  St.  Aiden  of  Ferns,  etc.  He  was  one  of  the 
twelve  bishops  supported  on  the  milk  of  St.  Ciaran's  Dun  Coiv,  and 
who  took  their  day  in  turn  at  the  quern  grinding  corn  for  the  com- 
munity. As  he  was  a  cotemporary  of  St.  Ciaran  (born  A.D.  507),  he 
must  have  been  born  about  the  end  of  the  fifth  or  the  beginning  of  the 

1  "  Laimhodhan,  to  my  knowledge." — Seethe  Life  of St.  Brigid,  chap.  41.  'The  Book  of  Hymns 
states  that  Ninnid,  son  of  l-k>chaidh,  was  Ninnidh  Laimhiodhan. 

2  Church  History  of  Ireland,  vol.  i,  p.  451  ;   vol.  ii,  pp.  51-56. 

3  Vita  S.  Brigitne,  Book  of  Listnon,  p.  269. 

4  Loca  Patriciana,  pp.  82,  83. 

H 


"4 


IMSMACSAINT. 


sixth  century.      King  Leogaire  was  his  grandfather  (on  his  father's 
side),  and  he  was  killed  by  lightning  on  the  plain  of  Kildare,  A.D.  463. 

An  intimate  friendship  sprung  up  between  Ciaran  and  Ninnidh  at 
Clonard,  which  ripened  with  years  and  lasted  till  death.  We  have 
everywhere  the  most  convincing  proofs  that  these  old  saints,  in  their 
wild  and  laborious  career,  loved  each  other  with  a  passionate  tender- 
ness, which  is  certainly  not  the  least  touching  feature  in  their  character. 
When  studying  the  gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  Ninnidh  had  no  book  of 
his  own  :  he  went  round  amongst  his  schoolfellows  to  borrow  one,  but 
failed  until  he  met  St.  Ciaran,  who  gave  him  his.1  Ciaran,  when  leav- 
ing the  school  of  Clonard,  left  his  Dun  Cow  with  Ninnidh,  saying  that 
her  hide  would  return  to  him.  This  cow  had  followed  Ciaran  when  he 
fled  from  his  father's  house  to  enter  a  monastery.  He  tended  her  with 
the  greatest  care  and  veneration.  When  she  died  of  old  age,  he  had 
her  hide  prepared  for  writing  upon.  On  it  he  wrote  the  work  which 
has  come  down  to  us  with  the  title  teADA|\  n4-b-th*o]\e — "the  book  of 
the  Dun  Cow?' 

After  leaving  Clonard,  Ninnidh  seems  to  have  settled  down  in 
Inismacsaint.  Ussher  says  that  he  was  dwelling  in  a  certain  wood 
in  Lough  Erne  about  the  year  530.'2  St.  Ciaran  resided  for  some  time 
with  Ninnidh  in  Inismacsaint,  about  the  year  534,3  whence  he  pro- 
ceeded to  visit  St.  Enda  of  Arran.  Colgan  quotes  an  old  Irish  distich 
which  represents  him  as  having  been  both  a  bishop  and  a  doctor  : 

"  Doctor  et  Antistes,  rex,  stirps  Laogaria, 
Proles  Erhach,  cum  monachis  Nennius  astra  petit." 

Confounding  him  with  his  namesake,  who  was  cotemporary  with 
St.  Brigid,  he  says  he  was  a  bishop  as  early  as  522  A.D.  It  is  more 
probable  that  it  was  only  after  he  had  been  many  years  abbot  of 
Inismacsaint  that  he  was  raised  to  the  episcopal  dignity,  and 
charged  with  the  administration  of  the  extensive  district  extending 
from  the  confines  of  Devenish  to  Bundoran,  in  County  Donegal. 
This  district  embraced  "  Domnachmor  in  Maghene";  that  is  the 
present  Moy,  lying  between  the  rivers  Erne  and  Drowes,  in  the 
south  of  Donegal.  And  in  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  pp.  1 13-1 15,  Ninnidh 
is  said  to  have  been  bishop  of  "  Domnach  Mor  in  Maghene."  "  Dom- 
nachmor" has  not  been  identified.  It  may  be  identical  with  Tigh 
Tunny,  in  the  townland  of  Cloyhore,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Erne, 
about  half  a  mile  from  Belleek,  and  in  the  County  Donegal.     Here 

1  Vita  S.  Kierani,  Book  of Listnore,  p.  269. 

2  Brittanicarum  Ecclesiarum  Antiguitates  Index  Chronologicus,  p.  528. 

3  Lanigan  :  Eccl.  History,  ii,  233. 


INISMACSAINT.  I  I  5 

there  is  a  small  graveyard  surrounded  by  a  wall  that  is  said  to  have 
been  built  out  of  the  ruins  of  an  old  abbey.  In  the  Tripartite  Life 
of  St.  Patrick,  p.  432,  it  is  said  that  Ninnidh  founded  the  church  of 
Domnachmor. 

While  Shearman  is  clearly  wrong  in  identifying  Ninnidh  of  Inis- 
macsaint  with  the  wandering  bard  of  the  same  name,  our  saint  seems 
to  have  gone  about  the  country  very  much.  The  hill  of  Knockninny, 
on  Upper  Lough  Erne,  is  said  to  owe  its  name  to  him.  A  holy  well 
is  pointed  out  there,  but  no  tradition  connects  it  with  St.  Ninnidh. 
It  is  enclosed  in  a  double  structure  of  stone,  the  outer  one  measuring 
5  ft.  7  in.  by  6  ft.  I  in.  There  are  no  ecclesiastical  remains  about  the 
hill,  but  it  is  literally  covered  with  most  interesting  souvenirs  of 
paganism.  They  furnish  us  with  fine  specimens  of  pre-Christian 
burials,  from  the  utilization  of  the  natural  cave  dwelling  to  the  care- 
fully packed  up  cromleac  and  the  exposed  tumulus. 

It  is  hard  to  see  how  Ninnidh  came  to  be  connected  with  Knock- 
ninny ;  for  although  the  Erne  furnished  him  with  a  convenient  high- 
way by  which  he  could  reach  it  from  Inismacsaint,  it  was  not  exactly 
the  kind  of  land  that  a  prince  would  be  likely  to  bestow  upon  a 
neighbouring  ecclesiastic.  It  is  a  barren  mountain,  but  its  command- 
ing position — affording,  as  it  does,  a  view  of  seven  counties — probably 
recommended  it  to  the  pagan  Irish,  who  loved  to  honour  their  worthy 
dead  by  interring  their  remains  in  the  most  conspicuous  place  in  their 
locality.  Their  warriors  frequently  expressed,  during  life,  a  desire  to 
be  buried,  armed  as  for  battle,  in  a  position  to  face  their  enemies. 

"  Spear  in  hand  and  helm  on  head,  they  tomb'd  him  stern  and  tall, 
Brass-armed  complete  for  standing  fight,  in  Cahir  Leary's  wall, 
With  his  gray  angry  countenance  turned  towards  the  hated  race 
Of  Brasil  Brec.      Sun  rises  and  sinks  ;  but  Leary  from  his  place 
Turns  never  ;  though  its  frown  have  dropped  off  from  the  fleshless  brow, 
The  gaunt  hand  still  sustains  the  spear  ;  and  still  the  angry  vow 
Sustains  him. " ] 

The  mountain  may  have  been,  in  the  days  of  Ninnidh,  a  theatre  of 
pagan  worship,  to  combat  which  he  secured  it. 

The  date  of  St.  Ninnidh's  death  is  unknown.  Dr.  Lanigan,  correct- 
ing a  conjecture  of  Colgan,  says  it  must  have  been  long  after  530  A.D. 
The  C1oc  |\inniT>h,  a  small  quadrangular  bronze  bell  presented  to  him 
by  Senach,  the  smith  saint  of  Derrybrusk,  was,  in  Colgan's  time, 
preserved  on  the  island.  It  is  probably  the  bell  referred  to  by  Dr. 
Kelly,  in  his  edition  of  the  Martyrology  of  Tallagh,  as  having  been 
preserved  in  his  time  at  Castlecaldwell. 

1  Congal,  p.  89. 


u6 


INISMACSAINT. 


An  extensive  rath,  or  cashel,  of  mixed  earth  and  stone  surrounded 
the  monastery.  Its  outlines  are  still  distinctly  traceable.  No  portion 
of  the  original  monastery  remains. 

The  Church. — The  small  quadrangular  church,  measuring  60  ft. 
by  23  ft.  6  in.,  is  not  older  than  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  century. 
W.  F.  Wakeman  assigns  it  to  the  twelfth  century.  The  side  walls  are 
in  a  fair  state  of  preservation,  but  both  the  gables  have  fallen.  Its 
only  feature  of  interest  is  a  small  window  in  the  southern  wall,  measur- 
ing 4  ft.  by  6  in.  on  the  exterior,  and  splayed  on  the  interior  to  3  ft. 
A  well-defined  bead  moulding  is  cut  on  two  stones  of  the  right  jamb  : 
all  the  others  are  perfectly  plain.  It  would  appear  that  this  work  was 
executed  after  the  stones  were  placed  in  situ,  and  that  the  sculptor 
was  interrupted  before  his  work  was  completed.  The  church  was  taken 
possession  of  by  the  Reformers,  and  used  down  till  the  reign  of  Queen 

Anne,1  when,  on  account  of  its  incon- 
venient insular  position,  it  was  aban- 
doned for  a  new  church  at  Drumenagh, 
on  the  mainland,  and  it  soon  fell  into 
ruins. 

The  Cross. — Adjacent  to  the  ruins 
of  the  church  is  an  ancient  and  interest- 
ing stone  cross  standing  14  feet  high. 
The  shaft  is  a  massive  block  of  hammered 
stone  measuring  6  ft.  by  2  ft.  2  in.  Its 
arms  are  not  confined  by  the  circle 
characteristic  of  the  Irish  cross,  but  it 
exhibits  unmistakable  leanings  towards 
that  ideal  that  reached  the  climax  of 
perfection  in  thecrossesofClonmacnoi.se. 
Its  sculptor's  name  was  probably  en- 
shrined in  the  traditions  of  Inismacsaint 
for  centuries,  when  the  oldest  of  our  now 
famous  Irish  crosses  was  sculptured. 
It  is  an  ideal  illustration  for  the  evolu- 
tionist—  a  link  in  the  chain  of  Irish 
artistic  development.  Its  massive  shaft 
and  arms  are  plain  and  unadorned  ;  no 
attempt  at  tracery  or  figure  subjects — 
merely  a  symbol  of  Christianity,  with  an 

1  Archdall  :  Monasticon. 


INISMACSAINT.  I  1 7 

evident  craving  after  the  circle  that  symbolises  eternity.  Du  Noyer, 
who  examined  it,  was  of  opinion  that  it  is  very  old.  It  may  have  been 
set  up  in  the  days  of  St.  Ninnidh. 

Inismacsaint  does  not  appear  to  have  been  at  any  time  a  very 
wealthy  foundation.  The  "  Survey  of  Fermanagh,"  1st  James  I.,  found 
that  amongst  the  spiritual  lands  in  the  barony  of  Magheryboy  was 
the  parish  church  of  Inismoy-soan,  having  two  quarters  of  land,  and 
Ball-osey,  containing  four  quarters  and  a  half,  being  possessed  by 
Patrick  O'Flanagan,  as  corbe. 

The  Inquisition  taken  at  Enniskillen,  18  September,  1609,  found 
that  "  in  the  barony  of  Magheryboy  and  Twora  is  the  parish  of  Enish- 
missaugh,  wherein  is  both  a  parson  and  vicar  collective  ;  and  that  the 
parson  payeth  yearly  to  the  bushopp  of  Clogher,  eight  shillings,  and 
the  vicar,  fower  shillings,  proxies,  per  annum  ;  and  that  the  tithes  of 
the  said  parish  are  paid  in  kinde,  one  forth  parte  thereof  to  the  said 
bushopp  of  Clogher,  one  other  fourth  to  the  said  viccar,  and  the  other 
two-fourth  partes  to  the  parson  ;  and  that  the  said  parson  and  viccar 
are  equallie  to  beare  one-third  parte  of  the  charge  in  repairinge  and 
maintaininge  the  parish  church,  and  the  herenaghe  to  beare  the  other, 
two-third  partes  of  the  said  charge  ;  and  they  also  saie,  that  in  the 
said  parish  is  a  chappie  of  ease,  called  Fennoare  in  Macginy,  unto 
which  said  chappie,  the  viccar  of  the  said  parish  is  to  send  a  curate  to 
saie  divine  service  ;  and  that  in  the  said  parish  also  is  another  chappie 
called  Ballihanny,  with  a  quarter  of  herenagh  land  of  the  ould  measure, 
belonging  thereunto,  whereof  McGackequin  is  the  herenagh,  and  paieth 
thereout  yearlie  to  the  Lord  Busshop  of  Clogher  three  shillings  and 
fower  pence  per  annum."  And  they  also  found  that  the  Bishop  of 
Clogher  was  seized  in  right  of  his  bishopric,  out  of  the  herenagh 
lands,  whereof  O'Flanagan  was  herenagh,  "  one  mark  and  not  else." 

At  the  Inquisition  held  in  Lifford,  12  September,  1609,  it  was  found 
that  the  Bishop  of  Clogher  was  entitled  to  various  tithes  and  duties 
out  of  the  part  of  the  parish  of  Enismisaugh,  lying  in  the  barony  of 
Tirhugh,  Co.  Donegal. 

The  civil  parish  of  Inismacsaint  contains  36,993  acres,  3  roods 
35  perches  in  Fermanagh,  and  7,126,  acres,  3  roods,  30  perches  in  the 
barony  of  Tirhugh,  Co.  Donegal.  The  two  chapels-of-ease  mentioned 
in  the  Inquisition — Fiennoare  (Finner)  and  Ballyhanny — were  in  the 
latter  portion. 


I  1 8  GEORGE    RAPHAEL    BUICK  :   AN    OBITUARY. 


* 


George  Raphael  Buick* 


AN  OBITUARY. 


T~  HE  sudden  and  unexpected  death  of  this  esteemed  and  eminent 
antiquary  took  place  on  28  April,  1904,  at  Damascus,  whither 

he  had  gone  in  the  interest  of  the  Jewish  Mission  of  the 

Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland.  Anyone  seeing  Dr.  Buick  before  he 
started  on  his  journey  would  have  considered  that  he  had  many  years 
of  useful  life  before  him,  as  he  had  only  turned  sixty,  looked  in  fairly 
good  health,  and  was  of  a  long-lived  family  by  both  father's  and 
mother's  side — his  mother  having  died  only  recently  at  over  eighty 
years  of  age,  and  his  father,  the  Rev.  Frederick  Buick,  yet  living 
at  over  ninety,  still  hale  and  hearty.  The  climate  and  primitive 
modes  of  travelling  in  Syria,  especially  in  the  month  of  May,  were 
too  trying  for  Dr.  Buick's  constitution.  He  first  suffered  from  severe 
headaches,  and  eventually  reached  Damascus  in  an  unconscious  state, 
and  died  there  the  third  day  after  his  arrival.  Had  he  lived  to  return, 
he  would  have  communicated  much  information  in  papers  and  lectures 
on  such  subjects  of  archaeological  interest  as  had  attracted  his  attention 
in  the  East.  He  was  a  frequent  contributor  of  interesting  articles  to 
this  Journal,  and  we  will  find  many  valuable  papers  from  his  pen  in 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  Royal  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries of  Ireland,  and  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Scotland,  etc.  He 
had  a  distinguished  collegiate  career,  having  graduated  in  the  Queen's 
University  in  1861,  with  first-class  honours  and  gold  medal  in  Experi- 
mental Science :  an  achievement  which  he  repeated  when  taking  his 
M.A.  degree.  The  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  of  the  Royal  University 
of  Ireland  was  conferred  on  him  in  1894,  because  of  his  attainments 
in  Archaeology  and  valuable  researches  in  that  branch  of  knowledge. 
He  was  a  Member  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  and  a  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Ireland,  of  which  latter  society  he  was 
twice  Vice-president.  His  advice  in  archaeological  matters  was  much 
sought  after  by  the  younger  generation  of  antiquaries,  which  was 
always  freely  given,  and  by  them  his  loss  will  be  greatly  felt.  He  had 
acquired  a  very  fine  collection  of  Irish  antiquities  in  his  lovely  manse  on 
the  banks  of  the  River  Maine,  adjoining  the  village  of  Cullybackey,  in 
the  county  of  Antrim,  which  he  loved  so  dearly.       VV.  J.  Knowles. 


DISCOVERY   OF   A   SOUTERRAIN    NEAR   BALLYMENA.  I  19 

Discovery  of   a   Souterrain  near 
Ballymena* 

By  Joseph  Skillen. 


A  SOUTERRAIN  was  recently  discovered  in  the  townland  of 
Liminary,    about    two    miles    from    Ballymena,    on    a    farm 

belonging  to  John  Black.     It  seems  in  ploughing  a  field  for 

potatoes,  the  ploughshare  struck  a  large  boulder,  and  this,  on  being 
raised,  disclosed  the  entrance  to  a  cave. 

Hearing  about  the  matter,  I  went  on  the  evening  of  4  May,  1904, 
and  also  on  a  subsequent  date,  to  visit  the  souterrain,  and  found,  on 
arriving  at  the  farm  on  the  occasion  of  my  first  visit,  that  the  entrance 
had  been  closed,  and  the  field  on  which  it  was  situated  planted  in 
potatoes. 

However,  by  the  kindness  of  the  farmer,  I  was  permitted  to  search 
for  an  entrance,  which,  with  his  assistance,  was  discovered  after  some 
trouble.  Descending,  I  found  that  the  souterrain — like  the  one  at 
Boghead,  near  Antrim — consisted  of  three  chambers  at  different  levels; 
the  levels  apparently  conforming  to  the  slope  of  the  hill  on  which  the 
souterrain  is  situated.  The  lowest  or  bottom  chamber  is  the  largest, 
running  north  and  south  for  nearly  16  feet,  the  roof  being  about  5  feet 
6  inches  high,  and  the  width  about  5  feet  3  inches  at  the  widest  part. 
The  second  or  middle  chamber  runs  at  right  angles  to  the  first  or 
lowest,  and  is  connected  by  a  passage  14  inches  by  21  inches.  This 
chamber  is  12  feet  6  inches  long  by  4  feet  10  inches  wide  and  5  feet 
high.  The  entrance  to  the  third  chamber  is  2  feet  square,  the  size 
being  about  9  feet  6  inches  long,  and  width  about  2  feet  3  inches. 
The  accumulation  of  soil  in  this  chamber  prevented  any  estimate  being 
made  of  the  height  from  floor  to  roof,  the  apparent  height  at  present 
being  about  3  to  4  feet. 

The  floors  of  all  three  chambers  are  covered  with  earth,  which  had 
evidently  fallen  through  the  roof-flags  during  the  long  process  of 
labouring  which  the  fields  where  they  are  situated  had  undergone. 

During  my  examination  I  noticed  a  recessed  boulder  in  the  roof 
of  the  lowest  and  largest  chamber,  which  apparently  was  the  original 
entrance  (see  plan  on  next  page).  The  opening  which  this  boulder 
covered  was  between  two  of  the  very  large  roof-stones,  and  one  of  the 
latter  showed  signs  of  chipping,  as  if  to  widen  the  aperture. 


120 


DISCOVERY   OF   A   SOUTERRAIN    NEAR    BALLYMENA. 


The  chamber  at  the  bottom  of  this  opening  was  deeper  than  at  any 
other  part,  which  would  naturally  be  expected,  as  being  the  place  of 
greatest  traffic  when  the  souterrain  was  in  use. 

The  walls,  as  usual,  are  built  of  dry  masonry,  field-stones  being 
used  in  their  construction  ;  the  roof  being  formed  of  large  boulders 

JOUTCRiafllM-flT-  (iMIN/ai&'o 

OOTRArtCC 


laid  transversely.  I  did  not  notice  any  ogham  markings,  such  as  were 
found  by  the  Rev.  W.  P.  Carmody  in  the  Connor  souterrain  ;  but  my 
examination  was  a  hurried  one,  and  it  would  repay  a  more  careful 
inspection.  I  was  told  by  the  farmer  that  some  bones  had  been  found, 
but  these  were  thrown  aside,  and  could  not  be  traced. 


THE   DIALECT   OF    ULSTER.  121 


The  Dialect  of  Ulster, 

By  John  J.  Marshall. 


THE  mode  of  speech  used  by  the  inhabitants  of  Ulster  has 
had  many  articles  and  papers  devoted  to  it,  from  that  by 
Dr.  Hume  in  the  old  Ulster  Journal  of  Arc/neology  down 
to  the  lengthened  correspondence  on  the  subject  published  in  the 
Northern  Whig,  during  the  summer  of  190 1,  and  Professor  Byers's 
recent  lecture  on  the  "  Sayings,  Proverbs,  and  Humour  of  Ulster." 

The  great  majority  of  persons  writing  on  this  subject  seem  to 
think  that  by  ULSTER  DIALECT  is  meant  that  form  of  speech 
prevalent  in  County  Antrim  and  the  Ards  district  of  Down,  and 
that  a  story,  say,  unless  written  in  the  Lowland  Scottish  prevalent 
in  these  districts  is  merely  Irish,  not  Ulster  dialect.  This  mistake, 
arising  from  either  ignorance  or  want  of  thought,  upon  examination 
of  the  question,  becomes  quickly  apparent.  While  there  can  be  no  hard 
and  fast  line  drawn — the  speech  of  each  particular  district  shading  by 
imperceptible  degrees  into  that  of  its  neighbour — there  are  occasional 
cases  where,  owing  to  the  Ulster  Plantation,  the  line  is  sharply 
drawn,  relatively  speaking.  An  instance  of  this  occurs  in  the 
county  of  Tyrone  where  it  borders  the  barony  of  Truagh,  in  County 
Monaghan.  This  district  of  Tyrone  was  planted  with  servitors1 
and  natives2;  but  the  natives  were  comparatively  few,  the  population 
consisting  principally  of  English,  with  a  sprinkling  of  Scottish  settlers; 
while  in  the  county  of  Monaghan  the  barony  of  Truagh  was  not 
planted,  but  remained  in  the  hands  of  native  Irish,  who  still  form 
the  bulk  of  the  population.  The  result  is  that  there  exists  a  marked 
difference  between  these  districts,  although  separated  only  by  the 
River  Blackwater,  which  forms  the  county  boundary ;  those  on 
the  Monaghan  side  using  many  Gaelic  words  and  forms  of  speech 
not  in  use  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river. 

Again,  in  the  district  around  Lurgan  and  Portadown,  where 
hand-loom  weaving  is  an  industry  largely  in  evidence,  many  words 
and  phrases  are  current  that  would  be  quite  unintelligible  to  a  native 
of  Carrickmacross  or  Cootehill.  To  take  a  still  more  concrete 
example,  the  speech  of  the  Ards  is  entirely  different  from  that  of  the 
kingdom  of  Mourne,  while  that  in  its  town  differs  from  the  language 

1  Government  officials  who  had  grants  of  land. 

2  Native  chiefs,  or  their  sons,  who  had  estates  granted  on  which  to  settle  with  their  families. 


122  THE    DIALECT   OF   ULSTER. 

used  in  that  portion  of  the  Barm  valley  lying  between  Ballyroney 
and  Lawrencetown,  although  all  three  districts  are  in  the  same  county. 
With  a  greater  intervening  space,  the  strongly  marked  Lowland 
Scotch  accent  and  phraseology  of  County  Antrim  is  widely  different 
from  the  Gaelic  intonation  of  "  dark  Donegal." 

This  will  serve  to  indicate  the  extent  and  variety  of  districts 
into  which  Ulster  may  be  divided,  for  the  purpose  of  recording  its 
dialect,  in  the  forming  of  which  the  two  predominating  factors  seem 
to  have  been  the  native  Gaelic,  which  even  a  century  ago  was  largely 
spoken  in  many  districts  where  it  is  now  unknown,  and  the  Lowland 
Scottish  speech  of  so  many  of  the  Plantation  colonists. 

Ulster  speech  differs  from  that  of  the  other  three  provinces  in 
being  more  abrupt  and  decisive,  taking  its  tone  from  the  character 
of  the  people — a  character  that  to  strangers  seems  somewhat  harsh 
and  discourteous,  contrasted  with  the  suavity  of  the  South.  That 
this  is  not  the  downright  boorishness  some  would  have  us  believe, 
but  the  earnestness  that,  in  looking  at  the  realities  of  life,  is  somewhat 
prone  to  neglect  the  courtesies  and  amenities  of  society,  is  evidenced 
by  the  Ulster  saying — "Too  sweet  to  be  wholesome."  This  sincerity 
of  character  has  its  effect  in  directness  of  speech,  and  a  tendency  to 
clip  letters  or  syllables,  where  possible,  off  words.  In  Ulster  the 
words  "old"  and  "cold,"  for  instance,  are  generally  called  owl  and  cowl, 
softened  as  we  proceed  southwards  in  owld  and  coxvld ;  while  the 
Antrim  "  caddie,"1  in  Mid-Ulster  counties,  is  softened  into  caddie'}  pro- 
nounced soft  like  Clady,  in  the  ballad  — 

"  This  is  the  banks  of  Clady,  fair  maid,  whereon  you  stan'. 
Do  not  depend  on  Johnnie,  for  he's  a  false  young  man." 

This  illustrates  the  shortening  process,  where  stand  is  made  stan 
to  rhyme  with  man.  Another  instance  of  this  directness  and  use  of 
words  in  their  shortest  possible  form  is  the  Ulsterman's  treatment 
of  the  terminal  letter  "g,"  which  he  seems  to  regard  as  altogether 
unnecessary  and  superfluous,  and  to  be  omitted  whenever  possible 
from  his  "comin'  into  the  world  till  his  dyin'  day." 

Broadly  speaking,  the  Ulster  dialect  may  conveniently  be  divided 
into  two  sections  :  (i)  The  Lowland  Scotch  spoken  in  County  Antrim, 
part  of  County  Derry,  and  the  Ards  district  of  County  Down.  (2)  The 
dialect  spoken  in  the  remaining  portion  of  Ulster,  ranging  from 
the  Scottish  speech  to  the  broken  English  of  the  bi-lingual  native  of 
Donegal. 

1  "A"  sounded  short,  as  in  fat.  2  Long  "  a,"  as  in  father. 


THE   DIALECT   OF   ULSTER.  1 23 

The  first  division  need  not  at  present  be  taken  into  account,  as  a  very 
full  "  Glossary  of  Words  in  use  in  the  Counties  of  Antrim  and  Down" 
was  compiled  by  W.  H.  Patterson,  M.R.I. A.,  for  the  English  Dialect 
Society,  by  whom  it  was  published  in  1880. 

The  second  division  still  remains  to  be  done;  and  the  following 
list  of  words,  some  of  them  local,  but  most  of  them  in  fairly  general 
use  throughout  Mid.  and  North-West  Ulster,  is  given  as  a  contribution 
towards  that  object. 

Many  interesting  words  brought  over  by  Elizabethan  and  Stuart 
settlers,  now  obsolete  in  general  language,  are  preserved  and  still  pass 
currency  in  our  Ulster  speech,  and  it  is  to  these  that  our  language  owes 
its  texture  and  distinctive  character  ;  but  with  the  general  spread  of 
newspapers,  and  an  ever-increasing  volume  of  cheap  literature,  these 
distinctions  are  rapidly  passing  away.  It  is  therefore  high  time  that 
something  should  be  done  to  place  our  Ulster  speech  on  record  ere  it  pass 
away,  as  language  is  fluid  and  adapts  itself  to  the  wants  and  conditions 
of  the  time;  and  our  northern  speech  has  so  largely  altered  within 
the  last  fifty  years,  that  it  may  be  confidently  predicted  that,  in  another 
hundred  years,  dialect  stories,  such  as  Carleton's  Traits  and  Stories  of 
the  Irish  Peasantry,  will  be  read  with  the  aid  of  a  glossary,  as  we  now 
read  Chaucer,  or  an  Englishman  reads  the  works  of  Robert  Burns. 
Indeed,  could  William  Carleton  revisit  the  district  wherein  the  scene 
of  these  stories  is  laid,  he  would  hardly  understand  the  speech  of  the 
peasantry,  so  greatly  has  it  changed  since  he  lived  and  wrote  some 
sixty  to  eighty  years  ago. 

If  readers  of  the  Ulster  Journal  of  Archteolog\>  will  note  any  words 
current  in  their  localities  not  included  in  the  following  list,  or  any 
of  the  present  words  used  in  a  different  sense,  and  send  them  to  the 
editor,  or  the  writer  of  this  paper,  with  their  meanings,  and,  where 
necessary,  a  sentence  or  pithy  proverb  to  illustrate  the  use  of  the 
word,  a  fairly  exhaustive  glossary  might  soon  be  compiled.  This 
would  place  the  words  on  permanent  record,  and  furnish  the  material, 
along  with  W.  H.  Patterson's  Glossary  of  Down  and  Antrim  Words, 
for  a  Dictionary  of  the  Ulster  Dialect,  in  which  the  words  would 
be  philologically  treated,  fully  explained,  and  illustrated. 

This  is  a  duty  we  owe  to  ourselves  and  to  our  forefathers,  the 
men  who  helped  to  make  Ulster  as  we  know  it  to-day.  Then 
will  the  men  of  Ulster,  through  whose  veins  courses  the  mingled 
blood  of  the  clansmen  of  O'Donnell  and  O'Neill,  the  adventurers 
of  the  days  of   Elizabeth,  who    sought   their  fortune   on    Irish    soil, 


1 24 


THE    DIALECT   OF    ULSTER. 


and  the  Covenanter,  whose  left  hand  held  the  Bible  and  his  right 
hand  the  sword,  have  a  fitting  record  of  their  mingled  blood  and 
speech.  Then  will  Ulstermen,  scattered  the  wide  world  over,  whether 
in  the  maple  woods  of  Canada,  the  great  commercial  cities  of  the 
States,  or  on  far  Australian  plains,  have  something  to  remind  them 
of  the  speech  wherein  the  lullaby  was  sung  beside  their  cradle  bed, 
that  was  murmured  in  subdued  accents  around  the  grave,  in  the 
shadows  perchance  of  a  stately  round  tower,  or  the  ruins  of  a 
church  founded  by  Erin's  patron  saint,  where  all  that  was  mortal 
of  loved  ones  lies  at  rest.  There  for  a  moment  will  the  wanderer 
in  fancy  revisit  the  loved  scenes  of  his  youth  as  his  eye  travels  down 
the  pages  of  familiar  words  in  ULSTER  DIALECT. 


Glossary  of  Words  in  the  Ulster   Dialect,  chiefly   used 
in  the  Midland  and  North-Western  Counties. 


A,  used  for  I,  the  first  person. 
Amn't,  am  not. 
Arrah,  an  exclamation. 
Attercap  (old  English  alter- 

cop,  a  spider),  a  half  fool  ; 

onewhoacts  insillyfashion. 
Art    (Scotch    airt),   quarter, 

direction,  or  point. 
Augh,  an  exclamation. 
Av,  of. 
A-y-lea,  grass  or  pasture  land 

from  which   one   crop  has 

been  raised. 

Rack,  help,  assistance. 

Back-board,  a  movable  board 
at  the  back  of  a  cart.  (See 
boxing.) 

Back-rope,  a  piece  of  harness 
that  rests  on  a  horse's  back, 
for  supporting  the  plough 
chains. 

Back -side,  the  yard,  or  yard 
and  garden,  belonging  to  a 
house  (now  obsolete,  or 
almost  so). 

Back-spang,  a  jump  back  ; 
also  taking  an  unfair  ad  van- 
tage, striking  behind. 

Back-suggan,  a  straw  pad  or 
saddle. 

Ballyrag,  bullyrag,  to  scold 
in  a  bullying  fashion. 

Barrin,  except. 

Barm-brack  (Gaelic  ba>an 
breac,  speckled  bread),  a 
cake  baked  with  currants 
and  raisins. 

Bat,  a  blow;  as,  "he  gave 
me  a  bat  of  a  stick." 

Bate,  beat. 

Batther,  to  beat. 


Baulyawr,  to  cry  loudly. 

Baulk,  a  cross  piece  of  timber 
fastened  to  the  couple  in 
the  roof  of  a  house.  (See 
couple.) 

Becaise,  because.       [mation. 

Bedad,  begad,  forms  of  excla- 

Beddy,  bold,  forward. 

Bees,  bis,  does  be. 

Beet,  a  sheaf  of  flax. 

Beetle,  a  wooden  pestle  used 
for  pounding  or  mashing 
potatoes  and  for  similar 
purposes.      (See  pounder.) 

Beetle-head,  a  tadpole. 

Beetle,  or  needle,  a  game 
played  with  pins  by  boys 
and  giiis  at  Xmas  time. 

Be  gob,  begorra,  be  goxty, 
forms  of  exclamation. 

Beltie,  a  black-and-white 
coloured  pig. 

Bend,  an  effort ;  as,  "make  a 
bend." 

Better,  recovered,  improved 
in  health. 

Bile,  a  boil. 

Bing,  a  heap,  generally  ap- 
plied to  a  potato  pit. 

Bird  alone,  without  anyone 
near. 

Bitin  Billy,  a  kind  of  sugar 
stick  of  very  pungent  taste. 

Black-a- viced,  black-a- vised, 
of  a  dark  complexion. 

Black-foot,  one  who  ac- 
companies as  counsellor 
and  friend  a  young  man 
upon  a  courting  expedition. 

Black-mouth,  a  Presbyterian. 

Black-leg,  quarter  evil  ;  a 
disease  of  cattle. 


Blaeberries,  bilberries. 

Blather,  to  talk  in  senseless 
fashion. 

Blather-cum-skite,  an  empty- 
headed  person. 

Blink,  to  overlook  with  the 
evil  eye. 

Blirt,  to  cry. 

Bloother,  a  clumsy  person  ; 
one  who  would  spoil  any- 
job  in  the  doing  of  it. 

Bloss,  a  contemptuous  term 
for  a  woman. 

Boak,  attempting  to,  but 
unable  to  vomit. 

Bodagh  (Gaelic),  a  churl. 

Bonefire,  a  bonfire. 

Booler,  a  large  marble.  (.SV^ 
taw. ) 

Boo-man,  a  bogie,  used  to 
frighten  children. 

Boose  ("00"  sounded  as  in 
goose),  a  situation. 

Booze,  ( 1 )  intoxicating  drink  ; 
(2)toindulge  inintoxicants. 

Botch,  to  execute  badly,  to 
spoil.  [grief. 

fiother,  trouble  of  any  sort, 

Bottle  of  straw  (sometimes 
called  a  wap),  a  portion  of 
straw,  consisting  of  about 
an  armful,  tied  up  for 
convenience  in  carrying. 
' '  Two  men  threshing,  a  wee 
bird  pickin',  and  an  ould 
woman  bottling  straw,"  is 
a  child's  play  formed  with 
the  fingers. 

Boxty,  bread  made  from  raw 
potatoes,  grated,  mixed 
with  flour,  and  baked  on 
a  griddle. 


THE   DIALECT   OF    ULSTER. 


125 


Boxing,  the  four  boards 
standing  on  the  body  of 
a  farm  cart,  so  as  to  form 
a  box.     (See  cribs.) 

Boy,  an  unmarried  man  of 
any  age. 

Brace,  the  beam  resting  upon 
the  jambs  that  supports  the 
front  portion  of  the  wide 
chimney  in  a  farm  kitchen 
or  cottage. 

Brack,  to  break. 

Brash,  (1)  a  short  spell  of  ill- 
ness; (2)aspellof  churning. 

Brashins,  the  froth  and  small 
particles  of  butter  on  newly 
churned  milk. 

Brave,  fairly  good;  as,  "that's 
a  brave  day." 

Bravely,  fairly  well. 

Brilliament  (French  embrou- 
illemtnt,  confusion),  a  dis- 
turbance. 

Brieulagh  (Gaelic),  a  squabble 

Britchen,  a  piece  of  harness 
to  prevent  a  vehicle  coming 
in  contact  with  the  hind 
quarters  of  a  horse  going 
down  hill. 

Brock,  broughan,  broken 
victuals. 

Bruck,  broke,  broken. 

Bruckle,  brittle,  shortgrained, 
easily  broken. 

Brusney,  a  gathering  of  dry 
sticks  to  kindle  a  fire. 

Buckiebriar,  the  wild  rose 
bush. 

Buck  teeth,  large  projecting 
front  teeth. 

Butt,  a  mark  from  which 
to  commence  a  game  of 
marbles,  or  any  other  com- 
petition requiring  it,  such 
as  jumping. 

Caddie,  a  boy. 

Call,  used    in    the    sense    of 

cause,  reason,  or  necessity; 

as,  "  you  had  no  call  to  hit 

him  on  the  head." 
Camp,    kemp,    to    compete 

with. 
Can,  a  tin  vessel  of  varying 

capacity,  from  a  quart  to 

a  couple  of  gallons. 
Cant,    kent,    (1)    a    sale    by 

auction;  (2)  a  cudgel. 
Canted,  auctioned. 
Cap,  to  stop,  to  turn. 
Carry  on,   to  act   lightly,   to 

misbehave. 
Cassy,    the     paved     portion 

about  the  door  of  a  cottage 

or  small  farm-house. 
Champ,  mashed  potatoes. 
Chats,  small  potatoes. 
Chay,  a  word  used  in  calling 

milch  cows. 


Cheek,  impudence. 

Cheeky,  impudent,  forward. 

Cheep,  to  chirp. 

Cheney,  china. 

Childhre,  children. 

Chin  cough,  whooping  cough. 

Choo,  a  word  of  command  to 
a  dog  to  cease  barking  or 
attacking. 

Clabber,  soft  clay  or  mud. 

Clamp,  a  small  rick  of  turf, 
or  dried  peat,  in  a  bog. 

Clart,  a  dirty  housekeeper. 

Clash,  to  carry  tales. 

Clashbag,  a  tale  bearer. 

Clatchin,  (1)  a  brood  of 
chickens  ;  (2)  the  number 
of  eggs  placed  under  a  hen 
for  hatching. 

Cleek,  a  hook. 

Clever,  tall,  fine-looking. 

Clockin,  brooding  ;  applied 
to  domestic  fowl. 

Clod,  to  throw. 

Cloddin,  throwing. 

Clout,  (1)  an  old  piece  of 
cloth  :  (2)  a  blow  on  the 
side  of  the  head  or  on  the 
ear. 

Cock,  to  set  up  ;  as,  "  cock 
him  up  with  it."  Cocking 
hay  is  putting  it  into  con- 
venient sized  stacks  in 
the  field.  (See  pike  and 
havel. ) 

Cock-a-nanny  (cockernony,  a 
top  knot  of  hair),  a  staple 
with  a  fancy  top  to  complete 
the  thatching  of  a  stack. 

Cog,  a  stone  or  other  impedi- 
ment wedged  under  any- 
thing, such  as  the  wheel 
of  a  vehicle,  to  prevent  it 
from  moving  or  slipping. 

Coggle,  the  movement  of 
anything  that  should  stand 
steadily. 

Cogglesome,  unsteady. 

Cogglty-curry,  see-saw.  (See 
shuggy-shoo. ) 

Colcannon,  mashed  potatoes 
mixed  with  flour  and  made 
into  a  kind  of  pudding. 

Colleen,  a  girl. 

Colley,  particles  of  soot. 

Comedher,  a  charm  or  at- 
traction. 

Common,  unbecoming  or  un- 
fitting, as  in  the  phrase — 
"  it's  ill  your  common." 

Con-acre,  land  let  for  the 
season  only,  for  cropping 
purposes. 

Consaitey,  conceited. 

Coof,  a  lubberly,  senseless 
fellow. 

Coorse,  coarse,  of  course. 

Coothre,  the  coulter  of  a 
plough. 


Corker,  a  large  pin  ;  also  used 
with  reference  to  anything 
of  extra  size.  "That's  a 
corker. ' ' 

Corn,  oats. 

Couple,  the  A-shaped  timbers 
supporting  the  ridge  pole 
of  a  house.     (See  baulk.) 

Coult,  a  colt. 

Count,  used  for  account. 

Courant,  a  quick  chase. 

Cow,  ( 1 )  to  dare  or  challenge 
another;  (2jtoturncoward. 

Cowl,  could,  cold. 

Cowp,  to  overthrow. 

Crack,    (1)    a    conversation; 

(2)  a  story  or  anecdote  ;  as, 
"  that's  the  best  crack  I've 
heard  for  a   long  time "  ; 

(3)  a  person  who  is  an 
entertaining  talker ;  as, 
"you're  good  crack  where 
you  stay  all  night  "  (Ulster 
saying) ;  (4)  a  moment,  a 
short  space  of  time  ;  as, 
"  wait  here  for  me  and  I'll 
not  be  a  crack "  (equiva- 
lent to  a  jiffy). 

Cracker,  a  piece  of  knotted 
whipcord  on  the  end  of  a 
whip. 

Crame,     cream.        "What's 


your   name. 


"  Butther 


and  crame."  "Avery  good 
name  for  winter."  (Ulster 
schoolboy  saying. ) 

Creepie,  a  low  stool.  "A 
crowl  on  a  creepie  Inks 
nothin'"  (Ulster  proverb). 

Cribs,  part  of  a  farm  cart :  the 
boards  above  the  boxing. 
(See  boxing.) 

Cronyie,  the  purring  made 
by  a  cat  ;  the  cat's  song. 

Crowle,  crowlie,  a  small 
undersized  animal  ;  one  of 
stunted  growth. 

Crub,  to  curb. 

Cruds,  curds. 

Cruel,  very,  or  exceedingly. 
"  I  have  two  swords  at  my 
bed-head  for  which  I  paid 
cruel  dear"'  (old  song). 

Cud,  could. 

Curns,  currants. 

Cut,  (1)  a  half  web  of  linen  ; 
(2)  to  wound  the  feelings 
by  a  sharp  speech  :  (3)  to 
go  away,  to  make  your- 
self scarce,  to  "  cut  your 
stick." 

Cutter,  a  slate  pencil. 

Cutty,  (1)  a  little  girl  ;  (2)  a 
species  of  short  pipe. 


Dab,  to  soil  or  dirty. 
Dander,    (1)    anger;    (2)    a 
sauntering  walk. 


126 


THE    DIALECT   OF    ULSTER. 


Dang,  an  exclamation,  prob- 
ably a  euphemism  for 
damn. 

Daffy,  a  contemptuous  term 
for  a  woman. 

Dailagoin,  twilight,  daylight 
going. 

Dar,  dare. 

Dear,  the  highest  power ; 
a  eupheinisitic  mode  of 
referring  to  the  Deity. 

Deave,  to  deafen. 

Debate,  a  struggle,  a  strong 
effort. 

Deef,  deaf. 

Deshort,  at  a  disadvantage. 

Deuce,  the  devil. 

Dhuragh  (Gaelic),  an  ad- 
ditional portion,  something 
thrown  in. 

Dibble,  (i)  a  pointed  piece 
of  stick  for  making  holes 
in  the  earth  ;  (2)  the  act 
of  inserting  plants  in  the 
holes  thus  made. 

Dig,  a  wound  to  the  feelings. 

Dindlin,  painful  from  cold, 
usually  applied  to  chilled 
fingers. 

Dinge,  to  dint. 

Dips,  candles  formed  by 
dipping  the  wicks  in  tal- 
low, to  distinguish  them 
from  those  formed  in 
moulds. 

Disorder,  a  disease  of  epi- 
demic character. 

Divilment,  mischief. 

Donsie,  in  delicate  health. 

Double-tree,  a  wooden  bar 
used  in  yoking  horses  to  a 
plough  or  other  implement 
of  tillage. 

Drap,  drop. 

Dreep,  to  drip. 

Dresser,  an  article  of  kitchen 
furniture  ;  a  sort  of  side- 
board. 

Dressin,  a  beating. 

Drookit,  wet,  draggled. 

Drouth,  thirst,  drought. 

Drubbing,  a  beating. 

Drums,  a  term  used  for  the 
Orange  procession  on  July 
12th. 

Duck,  to  put  the  head  under 
water,  to  dive. 

Dudheen,  a  short  black  pipe. 

Dunno,  do  not  know. 

Dunt,  to  strike  with  the  head, 
to  butt. 

Dwam,  a  sudden  or  un- 
expected illness. 


Easen, the  eaves  of  a  thatched 

house. 
Even,  (1)  to  compare  ;  (2)  to 

lay  to  any  person's  charge. 


Eadge,  (1)  griddle  bread  ; 
(2)  a  large  piece  of  griddle 
bread. 

Failthe,  welcome. 

Faint,  to  swoon. 

Faix,  in  faith,  an  asservation. 

Fans,  fanners,  a  winnowing 
machine. 

Farl,  one  of  the  quarters  into 
which  a  cake  of  griddle 
bread  is  sometimesdivided. 

Farrantickles,  freckles. 

Fashion,  habit. 

Fegs,  an  exclamation. 

Piddling,  to  work  aimlessly, 
or  without  showing  much 
progress. 

Fire,  to  throw;  as,  "quit 
firing  stones. "     (Sec  clod.) 

Flail,  an  instrument  used  for 
threshing  oats. 

Flake,  to  beat. 

Flooster,  (1)  to  fawn  upon  ; 
(2)  a  person  given  to  making 
sweet  speechesand  caresses 

Flowering,  embroidering. 

Folly,  follow. 

Foother,  (1)  to  fumble;  (2)  a 
fumbling,  useless  person. 

Footy,  small  minded. 

Fordher,  speed,  getting  for- 
ward with  work. 

Fore,  in  existence  ;  as,  "still 
to  the  fore." 

Fore-milk,  the  first  portion  of 
milk  drawn  from  a  cow. 
(See  stripping.) 

Foreway,  the  advantage  of 
being  first ;  taking  time  by 
the  forelock. 

Foment,  fornenst,  opposite. 

Forrid,  forward. 

Forth,  a  fort,  rath,  or  dun. 

Fosie,  spongy. 

Freit,  freet,  that  species  of 
superstition  under  which 
come  charms,  omens,  pre- 
servatives against  the  evil 
eye,  etc. 

Full,  first;  as,  "full  cousin," 
"  a  first  cousin." 

Full  butt,  right  up  against. 

Fut,  (1)  foot;  (2)  to  set  up 
turf  (peat),  three  together 
on  end  to  dry  after  being 
cut. 

Gaap,  gaapie,  a  silly  indi- 
vidual. 

Gab,  talk. 

Gab  ("g"  as  in  gobble),  the 
mouth.      (See  gub. ) 

Gad,  twisted  rodsused  instead 
of  a  rope  or  band  ;  a  withe. 

Galluses,  braces,  suspenders. 

Galore,  plenty,  abundance. 

Ganchin,  stammering. 

Ganting,  yawning. 

Gamph,  a  stupid  person. 


Gavel,  a  gable. 

Gazebo,     a     big,     awkward 

person  or  erection,  such  as 

a  house. 
Get,  an  illegitimate  child. 
Girl,  an    unmarried    woman 

of  any  age. 
Girn,  to  grin.      "Girny  gub, 

the   cat's   cousin"   (Ulster 
_  saying). 
Gnarles,  chicken  pox. 
Go,  two  buckets  full  of  water; 

the    quantity    of    water    a 

person  can  carry. 
Goamy,  a  soft  person. 
Golumphus,  a  silly  person. 
Gommeril,  gammeril,  a  silly, 

stupid  fellow. 
Gorsoon,  gasoon,  a  boy. 
Gosther,  idle  talk,  gossip. 
Gowl,  to  cry  loudly. 
Gowpen  ("  o"  as  in  go),  the 

full  of  two  hands  joined 

together. 
Grah,  friendship. 
Graip,  a  manure  fork. 
Great,  intimate. 
Greeshaugh,  hot  turf  ashes. 
Grew,  a  greyhound. 
Gripper,  a  bailiff. 
Grist,  proper  makeor  quality; 

as,  "  that's  about  the  right 

grist." 
Griskins,  small  pieces  of  raw 

flesh. 
Gruel,  punishment. 
Grulch,    a    short,     thick-set 

animal  or  person. 
Grummles,    grounds   at    the 

bottom  of  liquid. 
Gub,  mouth.     (.V^  gab. ) 
Guldher,    to    shout    roughly 

or  crossly. 
Gumption,      common-sense, 

shrewdness. 
Gunk,  to  disappoint. 
Gurly,  (i)surly,  ill-tempered  ; 

(2)  rough,  inclement. 
Gwon,  go  on. 
Gwup,  go  up. 


Hack,  a  person  or  individual ; 

as,  "a  smart  hack." 
Hanch,  to  make  a  quick  bite 

or  snap. 
Hand,  help,  assistance. 
Handstaff,  the  part  of  a  flail 

held    in    the    hand.      (See 

soople. ) 
Hannel,  to  hurry,  to  be  quick 

about  anything. 
Hap,  to  wrap  or  tuck  clothing 

warmly  around. 
Hard,  heard. 

Hard  word,  notice,  warning. 
Hardy,  strong,  healthy. 
Ham,  to  bake,  to  harden. 
Harrished,  harassed. 


THE   DIALECT   OF    ULSTER. 


127 


Hate,  the  smallest  portion, 
nothing;  as,  "not  a  hate." 

Haughle,  to  walk  in  an  awk- 
ward or  shamblingmanner. 

Havel,  a  hay  rick. 

Haverel,  a  rough,  coarse 
person  of  low  intelligence. 

Heart-scalded,  harassed  ; 
greatly  annoyed  or  worried. 

Hearty,  a  euphemism  for 
being  intoxicated  or  under 
the  influence  of  strong 
drink. 

Heel,  (1)  the  back  part  of  the 
palm  of  the  hand  ;  (2)  after 
part;  as,  "heel  of  the 
evening";  (3)  the  lowest 
part  of  the  crust  of  a  loaf ; 
(4)  to  tilt  up  a  cart  on  end. 

Heeler,  a  bold  female. 

Heifer,  a  disparaging  term 
for  a  young  woman. 

Hellment,  hellery,  mischief. 

Heth,  a  harmless  asservation. 

Hilt  nor  hair,  no  sign  of ;  as, 
' '  I  saw  neither  hilt  nor  hair 
of  them." 

Hinch, (1 )  the  haunch ; (2) to 
throw  from  the  haunch 
instead  of  raising  the  arm 
to  the  level  of  the  shoulder. 

Hobble,  a  difficulty. 

Hoke,  to  root  up  with  the 
snout. 

Hokey,  an  exclamation. 

Howsomdiver,  how-an-iver, 
however. 

Hud,  hood. 

Hudders,  huddin'  sheaves  ; 
the  top  or  hooding  sheaves 
of  a  stook. 

Hunkering,  lowering  the 
body  till  the  chin  almost 
touches  the  knees.  This 
differs  from  stooping,  the 
body  being  bent  in  zig-zag 
fashion. 

Hunkers,  the  hams. 

Hunker-sliding,  (1)  acting 
in  a  crooked,  unreliable 
manner  ;  (2)  sliding  on  ice 
with  the  body  bent  asabove. 

Hurd,  herd. 

Hurrish,  used  as  a.  call  to  pigs. 
(See  turry. ) 

Hursle,  a  hoarse  sound  in 
breathing,  caused  by  a  cold 
in  the  throat  or  bronchial 
tubes. 


Idle-set,  freedom  from  oc- 
cupation ;  idleness. 

Imph-imph,  yes,  just  so 
(a  sound  made  without 
opening  the  lips). 

India-buck,  Indian  meal. 

Inready,  already. 

Insense,  make  understand. 


Jag,  to  prick. 

Jamb-wall,  a  short  wall 
between  the  kitchen  and 
outer  door  of  a  cottage 
or  small  farm-house. 

Jarie,  a  species  of  playing 
marble. 

Jing,  an  asservation. 

Join.  When  twosmall  farmers 
having  only  a  horse  each, 
arrange  to  work  them 
together,  for  the  purpose 
of  putting  in  their  crops, 
it  is  called  joining. 

look,  to  stoop,  to  bend  the 
body. 

Jubous,  in  doubt  ;  suspicious. 


Kaillie,  visiting  a  house  for 
the  purpose  of  gossip. 

Karr,  a  grin  or  grimace  ; 
to  make. 

Karry,  a  dam  across  a  small 
stream  ;  a  mill  lead. 

Keeny,  to  cry  or  lament. 

Kesh  (Gaelic  ceasaigh  droi- 
chet,  a  wicker  bridge),  a 
bridge  formed  by  laying 
poles  from  bank  to  bank, 
across  these  a  layer  of 
branches,  the  whole 
covered  with  sods. 

Kink,  a  spell  of  coughing  or 
laughing. 

Kish,  a  round  shallow  basket. 

Kitchen,  anything  used  as  a 
relish  to  a  meal ;  as,  bacon 
with  potatoes. 

Kitterty,  (1)  applied  to 
persons  acting  in  silly 
fashion  ;  (2)  an  individual 
not  in  possession  of  his  full 
senses. 

Kitther-fist,  a  left-handed 
person . 

Knovv'd,  knew. 

Knurr,  a  small,  hard,  ill- 
favoured  person. 


Lair,  a  layer. 

Lamither,  a  lame  person. 

Langle,  to  hobble  ;  to  fasten 
the  legs  of  a  horse  or  other 
animal  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  prevent  its  straying. 

Lap,  lap-cock,  an  armful  of 
mown  grass,  lapped  or 
turned  over  in  such  a  way 
as  to  throw  off  rain,  while 
it  is  being  dried  into  hay. 

I.ashins,  profusion,  plenty. 

Laste,  least. 

Lavins,  leavings. 

Lep,  leap. 

Let  on,  to  tell,  to  inform. 

Liggetty,  a  long,  useless 
fellow. 


Lights,  lungs. 

Linked,    a    couple    walking 

arm  in  arm. 
Lingle,  a  short  cord  formed 

of  plaited  or  twisted  flax. 
Lint,  flax. 

Lint-hole,  a  flax  dam. 
Loan-ends,  the  point  where 

lanes  end  or  meet. 
Loanin,  loaney,  a  lane. 
Lock,  used  as  a  designation 

of  quantity;    "as,   a   wee 

lock  of  hay ;  a  good  lock 

of  straw." 
Looby,  a  long,  gawky,  useless 

fellow. 
Lossengers,  lossies,  lozenges, 

sweets. 
Luck, look. 
Luckpenny,  a  small  portion 

of    the    purchase     money 

returned    by  the  seller  of 

an  animal. 
Ludher,  to  beat. 


Make  little,  to  disparage 
or  belittle. 

Malivogue,  to  beat  soundly. 

Man  above,  the  Almighty. 

Man-keeper,  a  water  newt, 
popularly  supposed  to 
jump  down  a  person's 
ihroat  if  a  chance  offered. 

Margeymore  (Gaelic  more, 
great),  a  big  market.  Ap- 
plied to  the  market  before 
Xmas  ;  "a  market  and 
more  "  (Ulster  saying). 

Makins,  materialsfor  making. 

Mate,  meat.  food. 

Meeting,  the  Presbyterian 
form  of  worship. 

Miche,  to  play  truant. 

Mislist,  to  annoy  or  assault. 

Moiley  (Gaelic  maol,  bald), 
hornless. 

Moral,  model. 

Mortal,  very,  extremely, 
exceedingly. 

Mosey,  a  soft  person. 

Moseying,  moving  about  in 
sillyor  purposeless  fashion. 

Moss,  a  peat  bog. 

Mountain  bar,  the  term 
applied  to  a  range  of 
mountains  or  high  hills 
by  those  inhabiting  the 
lowland  district.  It  seems 
to  be  the  short  for  mountain 
barrier. 

Mouth,  a  silly,  tactless  person. 
"You're  a  mouth,  and 
you'll  die  a  lip"  (Ulster 
saying). 

Mug,  a  stupid  person. 

Murdher  sheery  (eternal 
murder),  an    exclamation, 


128 


THE    DIALECT   OF    ULSTER. 


Nayger,  a  coarse,  rough,  un- 
feeling person,  having  no 
higher  moral  or  social 
standard  than  a  nigger. 

Near  begone,  miserly. 

Neigher,  to  neigh  ;  a  loud 
horse-laugh. 

Newance,  something  unusual 

No  donnell,  no  fool. 

Noggin,  a  wooden  vessel 
now  fallen  into  disuse. 
Its  place  has  been  taken 
by  earthenware  mugs  and 
bowls;  "o.f.  of,  a  noggin 
o'  broth"  (Ulster  school 
rhyme). 

Narration,  a  loud  noise,  loud 
talk. 

Ondacent,  not  decent ;  mean, 
disreputable. 

Over,  to  pull  through ;  sur- 
vive. 

Overly,  over. 

Over  the  coals,  brought  to 
account. 

Oxter,  the  armpit. 

Oxter-cogged,  conveyed  by 
means  of  a  person  giving 
their  support  under  each 
arm. 

Pang,  to  pile  up,  to  heap. 

Pant,  an  episode  or  adventure 

Party  work,  the  antagon- 
ism between  two  political 
parties. 

Passel,  a  parcel. 

Pays,  peas. 

Pegh,  the  sound  made  by 
the  forcible  expulsion  of 
the  breath,  occasioned  by 
laborious  work  or  pain. 

Pernicketty,  ill-tempered, 
hard  to  please. 

Pet,  a  fine  day  in  the  midst 
of  bad  weather. 

Piggin,  a  wooden  vessel  for 
holding  milk  or  other 
liquid. 

Pike,  a  large  stack  of  hay  in 
a  haggard. 

Pink,  to  strike,  to  throw  at. 

Pirtty-oaten,  pritty-oaten, 
(i)  bread  baked  from  pota- 
toes and  oatmeal  ;  (2)  any- 
thing coarse  or  rough  ;  as, 
"  coorse  as  pritty-oaten" 
(Ulster  saying). 

Pitch,  (1)  to  throw  ;  (2)  to 
throw  up  with  a  fork  hay 
or  oats  being  built  on  a  cart 
or  stack. 

Plash,  slop. 

Play,  course  of  conduct  ;  as, 
"  it  will  be  the  best  of  your 
play  to  pass  me  by." 

Plenishing,  furniture. 


Polthogue,  a  blow. 

Poor  mouth,  making  a  poor 

mouth   is   complaining   of 

poverty. 
Pounder.     (See  beetle. ) 
Powl,  a  pole. 
Prick  -at-the-loop,     a     game 

of  chance  played  at  fairs. 
Prig,  to  chaffer  ;  to  try  to  beat 

down  a  reasonable  price. 
Prod,  to  goad  with  a  sharp 

instrument. 
Prog,  plunder. 
Progue,  to  poke. 
Puke,  a  disgusting  person. 
Pumps,  light,  thin  shoes. 
Purloins,    the    roof    timbers 

resting  across  the  couples 

from  gable  to  gable.     (See 

couples.) 
Purty,  pretty. 

Quare,  very,  or  exceptional  ; 
as,  "quare  an'  good." 

Qua,  a  quagmire,  a  marsh. 

Quality,  the  designation  ap- 
plied to  persons  of  good 
social  position  by  the  lower 
classes. 

Quit,  quet,  cease. 

Ragherie,  a  small  shaggy 
pony. 

Ram-stam,  to  go  forward 
blindly  or  without  taking 
notice  of  obstructions. 

Ramper,  a  rampart  raised 
along  the  banks  of  a  river 
to  prevent  adjacent  low- 
lying  lands  being  flooded. 

Ramper  eel,  a  thread-like 
creature  a  few  inches 
in  length.  Boys  in  the 
country  have  a  belief  that 
a  horse's  hair  placed  in 
water  for  nine  clays  turns 
to  a  ranipe'-  eel. 

Randletree,  a  tall,  bony 
woman. 

Rap.  (1)  a  rascal  ;  (2)  a  bad 
halfpenny. 

Raughle,  a  rough  heap  of 
stones ;  a  wall  loosely  built 
without  mortar,  ready  to 
tumble  down. 

Resate,  receipt. 

Ree,  high  animal  spirits ; 
almost  unmanageable. 

Redd,  (1)  to  get  rid  ;  (2)  to 
tidy  up. 

Regimental,  proper,  correct, 
according  to  regulation. 

Riddle,  a  sieve  for  winnowing 
grain. 

Rightified,  rectified  ;  made 
right. 

Rightly,  very  well  ;  in  good, 
health. 


Road,  to  direct  to  any  place. 

Roar,  to  weep  loudly. 

Roughness,  plenty  ;  an  air  of 
prosperity  about  a  farm- 
house. 

Rowl,  roll. 


Sack,  to  dismiss  ;  discharge, 
dismissal. 

Saisoned,  seasoned,  of  mature 
age. 

Sale,  a  seat. 

Scaldie,  an  unfledged  bird. 

Scobe,  to  gnaw  out  with  the 
teeth  ;  to  hollow  out. 

Scollops,  rods  pointed  at  each 
end,  used  for  fastening 
thatch  on  a  roof. 

Sconce,  ( 1 )  a  jeering  person  ; 
(2)  to  jeer. 

Scowdered,  imperfectly 
bak«l. 

Scowld,  to  scold. 

Scrab,  to  scratch. 

Scranch,  to  crunch. 

Scraw,  a  thin  grassy  sod. 

Screeve,  (1)  a  tear  in  a  gar- 
ment ;  (2)  the  sound  made 
in  tearing  cloth. 

Screw,  a  miserly  person. 

Scringe,  (1)  a  grinding  or 
squeaking  noise  ;  (2)  the 
act  of  making  it. 

Scroof.  scurf;  a  crust. 

Scrub,  a  mean,  ill-con- 
ditioned  person. 

Scrunty.  parsimonious, 
niggardly. 

Scunder,  scunner,  disgust. 

Scuffed,  partly  worn;  the 
fresh  look  worn  off. 

Scut,  a  mean  fellow. 

Sets,  the  portions  into  which 
a  potato  is  divided  for 
planting. 

Set-time,  a  holiday,  a  festi- 
val. 

Settle,  (1)  to  stop  any  action 
or  movement ;  (2)  a  kitchen 
sofa  or  seat  to  accommo- 
date several  persons. 

Sevendible,  thorough,  most 
complete. 

Shannagh,  a  friendly  greeting 

Shebeen,  a  house  where 
illicit  spirits  are  sold. 

Shift,  a  chemise. 

Shig,  a  small  stack  of  hay 
about  the  height  of  a  man. 

Shire,  to  settle ;  to  allow 
liquid  to  stand  until  the 
solid  matter  sinks  to  the 
bottom. 

Shore,  an  artificial  drain. 

Shough,  the  deep  channel 
formed  when  the  earth  is 
thrown  up  in  making  a 
ditch. 


THE    DIALECT   OF    ULSTER. 


129 


Shows  (pronounced  "  ow  " 
as  in  how,  also  as  in  show), 
shoves  ;  the  woody  part  of 
the  flax  plant  that  is 
separated  from  the  fibre 
in  scutching. 

Shraft,  shrovetide. 

Shud,  should. 

Shuggy-shoo,  see-saw.  (See 
cogglty-curry. ) 

Shuiler,  a  tramp,  a  vagrant. 

Single-tree,  a  wooden  bar 
used  in  yolking  horses  to 
a  plough  or  other  agri- 
cultural implement. 

Skedaddle,  to  go  quickly  ; 
to  get  quickly  out  of  the 
way. 

Skelf,  a  splinter  of  wood. 

Skelly,  to  squint. 

Skiff,  skiffle,  a  slight  shower. 

Skillie,  very  thin  porridge  or 
gruel. 

Skinadre,  a  thin,  fleshless 
person. 

Skink,  to  pour  water  aim- 
lessly from  one  vessel  to 
another. 

Skirl,  to  scream. 

Skite,  (1)  to  splash;  (2)  a 
person  ;  as,  blather-cum- 
skite,  a  foolish  person  ; 
empty  skite,  a  silly  person. 

Slabber,  slaver,  to  allow 
saliva  to  run  from  the 
mouth. 

Slipe,  a  shallow  box  mounted 
on  runners,  used  for 
drawing  soil. 

Slither,  to  slide. 

Sloosther,  to  dabble  with 
water  ;  to  make  a  mess. 

Sloother,  an  awkward,  use- 
less fellow. 

Slug,  a  big  drink. 

Slungin,  loafing. 

Smithereens,  small  pieces, 
bits. 

Smush,  food  in  a  soft  con- 
dition ;  finely  broken  stuff. 

Snare,  one  of  a  number  of 
small  cords  stretched  across 
the  bottom  of  a  kettle- 
drum. 

Sned,(i)  tocut ;  as.snedding, 
i.e.,  cutting  the  tops  off 
turnips  ;  (2)  the  handle 
of  a  scythe. 

Snig,  to  cut  smartly  or  quickly 

Snigger,  snicker,  to  laugh  in 
a  shame-faced  or  suppressed 
fashion. 

Snool,  a  mean,  underhand 
person. 

Snot,  snotter,  an  impudent, 
conceited  fellow. 

Soak,  to  fawn,  to  curry 
favour. 

Sonsie,  well  favoured. 


Soople,  (1)  the  part  of  a  flail 
that  strikes  the  oats  in 
threshing  (see  handstaff) ; 
(2)  swift,  supple,  flexible. 

Sorra,  sorrow. 

Sough,  a  sighing  sound  ;  the 
sound  made  by  the  wind 
or  water. 

Sowans,  flummery. 

Spalpeen,  a  blackguard,  a 
rough. 

Spang,  a  movement  between 
a  stride  and  a  jump. 

Speel,  to  climb. 

Spell,  a  period  or  length  of 
time  ;  as,  "aspellof  work," 
"a  spell  of  fine  weather." 

Spenchelled,  spancelled,  the 
feet  of  an  animal  tied  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  pre- 
vent its  straying.  (See 
langle.) 

Spla-feet,  splay  feet. 

Splaghs,  big  awkward  feet. 

Splattered,  bespattered. 

Spraughlin,  a  sort  of  sprawl- 
ing movement. 

Sprickleybag,  a  stickleback. 

Sprigging,  embroidery,  now 
known  as  Swissembroidery 
(See  flowering.) 

Spuds,  potatoes. 

Stakenrice.  a  fence  formed 
by  the  stems  of  bushes 
being  driven  into  the 
ground  or  ditch,  with 
the  branches  interwoven 
basket  fashion. 

Start,  to  begin,  set  out,  or 
commence. 

Starving,  perishing  with  cold. 

Stelk,  mashed  potatoes  and 
beans. 

Stepmother's  breath,  a  cold 
draught  of  air. 

Stirabout,  porridge. 

Stirk,  a  young  bullock. 

Stook,  a  collection  of  sheaves 
set  up  for  drying. 

Stoor,  dust. 

Stoun,  a  spasm  of  pain. 

Stout,  in  good  health. 

Strccker,  one  who  makes 
st  reeks. 

Streek,  a  twist  of  flax  straw 
for  passing  between  iron 
rollers  to  prepare  for 
scutching. 

Stride-legs,  astride. 

Stripper,  a  cow  that  has 
ceased  to  give  milk,  but 
that  is  not  in  calf. 

Strippings,  the  last  and 
richest  portion  of  milk 
drawn  from  a  cow.  (See 
foremilk. ) 

Strunt,  to  sulk. 

Sucker,  a  young  pig,  up  to 
six  or  eight  weeks  old. 


Suggan,  a  straw  collar,  some- 
times applied  to  a  neck- 
cloth. 

Swab,  a  low,  coarse  fellow. 
"Butcher's  swab"  is  a 
common  expression. 

Swop,  (1)  to  dismiss;  (2)  to 
exchange. 


Tang,  (1)  the  tag  of  a  boot- 
lace ;  (2)  the  tapered 
portion  of  a  knife  or  other 
instrument  that  is  inserted 
in  a  handle. 

Taw,  a  large  marble  used  for 
throwing  at  marbles  set  in 
a  ring.      (See  booler. ) 

Targe,  (1)  to  scold;  (2)  a 
scolding,  brawling  woman. 

Targing,  (1)  scolding;  (2) 
working  vigorously. 

Taste,  a  small  portion. 

Tatty,  tangled  or  touzled. 

Tatthery,  unkempt,  untidy. 

Tay,  tea. 

Teeming,  pouring  rain. 

Tent,  a  drop  ;  a  dip  of  ink. 

Tether,  a  long  rope  used  for 
securing  a  load  of  hay  or 
oats  on  a  cart. 

Thick,  intimate  ;  on  very 
friendly  terms. 

Thick-witted,  not  having 
proper  control  over  the 
passions. 

Think  long,  to  long  for;  to 
wish  the  time  to  pass  more 
quickly. 

Thole,  to  endure  patiently. 

Thon,  yon,  yonder. 

Thraw,  to  twist  or  wriggle. 

Thrawn,  contrary,  perverse. 

Throng,  busy;  highly  en- 
gaged. 

Throughother,  mixed  up ; 
untidy. 

Throw  off,  to  vomit. 

Thrumgullion,  a  big-boned, 
loose-jointed,  untidy 
woman. 

Tibb's  Eve,  a  festival  not  to 
be  found  in  the  Calendar. 
Used  as  an  evasion,  as  it 
is  said  to  occur  neither 
before  nor  after  Christmas. 

Tick,  credit;  obtaining  goods 
without  paying  ready 
money. 

Tig,  to  touch  ;  a  children's 
game,  played  by  touching 
each  other. 

Tig-toy,  tic-toy,  to  dally 
with. 

Timersome,   fearful,  timid. 

Tinker,  ( 1 )  a  tinsmith  ;  (2)  to 
botch  or  execute  badly. 

Toast,  towards,  in  the 
direction  of. 


130 

Tool,  a  person  of  uncer- 
tain habits,  upon  whom 
no  dependence  can  be 
placed. 

Towl,  told. 

Toyaddle,  tyaddle,  a  dis- 
reputable person  ;  usually 
applied  to  females. 

Trake,  a  long,  tiresome 
journey. 

Tramp,  to  tread,  to  step  on  ; 
to  journey  on  foot. 

Tram,  that  portion  of  the 
shaft  of  a  cart  projecting 
behind. 

Transmogrify,  to  transform, 
to  change  completely. 

Trate,  treat. 

Trig,  (i)  neat,  trim;  (2)  to 
spring  from  a  mark  in 
jumping. 

Trimming,  trimmin,  a 
beating. 

Trinket,  a  small  cut  or 
channel  for  carrying  off 
water. 

Trogs,  an  asservation. 

Tully-eye,    a    crooked    eye, 

a  squint. 
Turf,  peat  dried  for  fuel. 


ROBERT    EMMET. 

Turn,  (1)  to  throw  off;  as, 
"to  turn  the  rain"  ;  (2)  ap- 
plied to  the  eye  means  a 
squint. 

Turn-hole,  a  deep,  dangerous 
hole  in  a  river  bed,  hol- 
lowed out  by  an  eddy. 

Turry,  a  call  used  for  pigs. 

Underboard,  lying  in  a  coffin, 
as  aboveboard  means  alive 
and  about. 

Undhercomstubble,  to  under- 
stand. 

Upsettin',  proud,  stuck  up, 
scornful. 

Vagabone,  a  vagabond. 

Walking-papers,     discharge, 

dismissal. 
Wan,  one. 
Wanst,  once. 
Water-table,   a   channel    for 

carrying  off  water. 
Waver,  a  weaver. 
Weakly,  sickly,  delicate. 
Wed,  weeded. 
Weeshy,  little. 


Whale,   to   thresh,  beat  or 

punish. 
Whate,  wheat. 
Wheen,  a  small  quantity,  a 

few. 
Whillaballoo,    hillaballoo,   a 

hubbub,  an  uproar. 
Whin,  (1)  when  ;  (2)  a  furze 

bush. 
Whinge,  to  talk  in  a  doleful 

manner. 
Whommle,  to  overthrow  or 

turn  over. 
Wight,    a    sieve    for    lifting 

grain. 
Winning,  drying  ;  applied  to 

oats,   hay,    or    other    farm 

produce. 
Wurragh,  an  exclamation. 

Yammer,  to  complain 
querulously. 

Yaap,  (1)  the  cry  of  chickens 
wanting  food ;  (2)  to  whine 
or  make  querulous  com- 
plaint. 

Yellow-man,  a  kind  of  sweet- 
meat of  a  yellow  colour. 

Yowl,  to  howl ;  to  make  a 
loud  noise. 


Robert  Emmet* 

A  Poem  by  the  late  "William  Archer  Butler. 
ANY  unpublished  remains,  both  in  poetry  and  prose,  of  the 
late  William  Archer  Butler,  Professor  of  Mental  and  Moral 
Philosophy  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin  (1 837-1 847),  and  the 
greatest  preacher  of  his  day,  having  fallen  into  my  hands,  I  select 
the  following  few  lines  as  likely  to  interest  the  readers  of  the  Ulster 
Journal  of  Archeology  : 

LINES    WRITTEN    UNDER    A    PORTRAIT   OF    ROBERT   EMMET. 

Thy  tearful  country  twines  a  cypress  wreath 

For  thee,  Crescentius  of  my  native  land  ! 
And  where  soft  Pity,  weeping,  learns  to  breathe 

The  patriot  names  that  form  her  "  sacred  band," 
The  brave  in  spirit  and  the  bold  in  hand, 

Thine  hath  a  noble  place  :  'twas  thine  to  feel 
That  dreams  of  glorious  hue,  though  brightly  grand, 

Are  yet  but  dreams.     Alas  !  could  Emmet  heal 
The  wounds  of  centuries  ?     What  can  the  slave  but  kneel  ? 

[Note  —  See  Gibbon.—"  Rome  made  a  bold  attempt  to  shake  off  the  Saxon  yoke,  and 
the  consul,  Crescentius,  was  the  Brutus  of  the  Republic  ....  his  body  was  suspended 
on  a  gibbet,"  &c] 

The  Vicarage,  Antrim.  M-    H'   F'   COLLIS. 


ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D.  131 

Robert  Vicars  Dixon,  D*D* 

(Archdeacon  of  Armagh), 

and  the  Parish  of  Cloghernie* 

By  the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Belmore,  g.c.m.g. 

(  Continued  from  page  Q4- ) 


T~  HIS  may  be  a  convenient  place  to  extract  from  Appendix  II  of 
my  History  of  the  Manor  of  Finagh  the  names  of  the  clergy, 

'     so  far  as  they  are  known,  prior  to  the  division  of  the  parish 

in  1733.  They  were — rectors  and  prebendaries — Neal  McCamul,  died 
1367  ;  Maurice  O'Cassidy,  1367  ;  John  McCathmayle,  in  or  before  1440 
to  1455,  or  later;  Bernard  Negwynsynan,  to  1544;  William  Sloddan, 
from  1544.  Vicars  :  Dermot  McGwyrke,  died  1435  ;  Denis  O'Luckran, 
1435  ;  John  McGirre,  in  or  before  1440  ;  Rory  McConulton,  in  or  before 
1451.  Rectors  and  vicars:  Daniel  Clarke,  A.B.,  1614;  Roger  Blythe,  A.M., 
1617  (hanged  by  the  Irish  in  1641) ;  B.  Brammond,  before  1666; 
Elias  de  Vassal  de  Rignal,  1667  ;  Adam  Ussher,  A.M.,  before  1679, 
resigned  1695;  Richard  Crump,  A.M.,  1695,  died  1730;  Charles  d'Este, 
A.M.  (Archdeacon  of  Armagh),  173 1,  resigned  at  the  division  of  the 
parish.  Curates:  Daniel  Hyckes,  before  1622;  James  Boyke,  before 
1628;  John  Forbes,  before  1679;   Archibald  Wilson,  1697. 

I  do  not  find  anything  more  to  note  about  the  parish  until  after 
the  death  of  Dr.  Crump  in  1730.  At  that  time  the  presentation  to  the 
living  rested  in  Marcus,  Viscount  Beresford  (the  son  of  Nichola  Sophia 
Hamilton,  Lady  Beresford,  who  had  left  her  estate  in  Termonmaguirke 
and  Errigal  parishes  to  her  second  husband,  General  Gorges,  but  had 
omitted  to  do  so  as  regarded  the  presentation  to  Termonmaguirke 
parish),  and  in  Robert  Lowry  of  Loughmacnab,  who  had  not  long 
succeeded  his  father,  Robert  Lowry  of  Aghenis.  The  latter  had 
purchased,  in  1705,  the  moiety  of  the  late  Lord  Glenawley's  estate  from 
his  elder  sister,  Arabella  Susanna,  Baroness  Dungannon  [previously 
Lady  Magill],  with  the  other  moiety  of  the  presentation.  They  arranged 
to  obtain  a  division  of  the  parish,  and  all  its  tithes  and  emoluments, 
etc.,  into  two  equal  separate  and  distinct  parishes,  and  first  to  make  a 
joint  temporary  presentation.  I  have  the  agreement,  which  is  too  long 
to  quote  in  full  ;  but  by  it,  after  reciting  that  Lord  Tyrone  was  seized 
in  fee  of  one  moiety  of  the  advovson,  and  that  Robert  Lowry  held  the 
other  for  life  under  a  settlement  made  on  him,  on  his  marriage  (with 


132  ROBERT   VICARS    DIXON,   D.D. 

Katherine  Dopping,  eldest  daughter  of  the  Dean  of  Clonmacnoise, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Ossory),  by  his  late  father,  Robert  Lowry, 
deceased,  they  agreed,  until  the  division  should  be  accomplished,  to 
present  jointly  in  writing,  in  due  form  of  law,  before  ioth  April  inst., 
173 1,  the  Rev.  Charles  d'Este,  Archdeacon  of  Armagh,1  to  be  instituted 
and  admitted  thereto  by  the  Lord  Primate. 

"  And  that  after  the  said  division  shall  be  made  in  manner  aforesaid, 
the  said  Marcus,  Lord  Viscount  Tyrone  and  Robert  Lowry  shall  cast 
lotts  for  the  same  in  manner  following,  (that  is  to  say)  the  name  of  each 
of  the  newly  erected  parishes  shall  be  wrote  on  a  separate  scroll  of 
parchment,  roll'd  up,  and  put  into  a  hatt,  to  be  held  by  an  indifferent 
person,  to  be  chosen  between  the  partys  to  these  presents  for  that 
purpose ;  and  that  the  said  Marcus,  Lord  Viscount  Tyrone  and 
Robert  Lowry  shall  each  put  his  hand  into  the  said  hatt,  and  take 
thereout  one  of  the  said  scroles  ;  and  that  the  advowson  of  that  parish 
which  shall  be  mentioned  in  the  said  scrole  of  parchment  to  be  drawn 
or  taken  out  of  the  said  hatt,  by  the  said  Lord  Viscount  Tyrone,  shall 
stand  and  be  the  advowson  of  the  said  Lord  Viscount  Tyrone,  his 
heirs  and  assigns  for  ever  ;  and  that  the  advowson  of  that  parish  which 
shall  be  mentioned  in  the  said  scrole  of  parchment,  which  shall  be 
drawn  or  taken  out  of  the  said  hatt  by  the  said  Robert  Lowry,  shall 
stand  and  be  the  advowson  of  the  said  Robert  Lowry  and  his  issue, 
and  of  such  other  person  or  persons  as  shall  be  entitled  thereto,  by, 
through,  or  under  them,  or  under  the  said  Lord  Viscount  Tyrone  and 
Robert  Lowry,  and  their  several  heirs  and  assigns,  &c,  or  under  the  said 
Robert  Lowry,  deceased,  &c,  &c. ;  and  further,  that  the  party  to  whose 
lott  the  new  erected  parish  shall  fall,  within  which  the  church,  now  being 
in  the  said  parish  of  Termonmaguirk,  stands,  he,  his  heirs,  exors., 
admors.,  and  assigns,  shall  and  will,  within  one  year,  from  and  after 
the  division  made  and  lotts  drawn,  pay  or  cause  to  be  paid  to  the  other 
party,  his  heirs,  &c,  the  sum  of  .£20  ster.,  towards  erecting  and 
building  a  church  in  some  part  of  the  new  erected  parish,  wherein  no 
church  shall  then  be.  Provided,  nevertheless,  &c,  that  in  case  the 
title  of  the  said  Marcus,  Lord  Viscount  Tyrone,  to  the  moiety  of 
the  said  advowson,  shall  be  evicted  by  Richard  Gorges,  esq.,  or  any 
other  person,  then  and  in  such  case  the  presentation  of  the  said 
Charles  Este  shall  not  be  deemed,  taken  or  mentioned  to  be  the 
turn  of  the  said  Robert  Lowry,  or  that  his  turn  to  presentation  to 

1  He  would  have  been  also  Rector  of  Aghaloo,  of  which  Caledon  Church  is  the  parish  church. 
R.  Lowry  was  his  parishioner. 


ROBERT   VICARS    DIXON,   DA).  I  33 

the  said  rectory  or  vicarage  was  or  is  thereby  satisfied,  but  that, 
notwithstanding  the  same,  the  said  Robert  Lowry  and  his  issue,  and 
all  and  every  other  person  and  persons  deriving  under  the  said 
settlement,  shall  have  and  enjoy  his  or  their  term  of  presenting  to  the 
said  rectory  and  vicarage,  as  if  the  said  presentation  of  the  said 
Charles  Este  had  never  been  made  or  joined  in  by  the  said  Robert 
Lowry,  &c."  Signed  and  sealed  "Tyrone"  and  "Robert  Lowry," 
2nd  April,  1731. 

Although  not  certain  about  it,  I  gather  that  the  church  in  actual 
use  as  the  parish  church  at  this  time  was  Cloghernie  Church,  and 
that  Robert  Lowry  had  to  pay  the  ^20.  In  1733  an  eff°rt  was  made 
by  Lord  Tyrone  and  Robert  Lowry  to  have  the  site  of  Termon  Church 
transferred  to  Sixmilecross.  "  At  a  vestry,  held  on  the  13th  day  of 
January  in  that  year,and  attended  by  Mr.  Howell, the  Rector,and  several 
of  the  Protestant  parishioners,  a  petition  to  the  Primate  was  agreed 
upon,  in  which  it  was  stated  that  the  parish  church  was  in  a  very 
dilapidated  state;  that  a  new  church  might  be  built  at  less  expense 
than  the  old  one  could  be  repaired  ;  that  its  situation  was  very 
inconvenient  to  the  Protestant  parishioners;  that  Sixmilecross  would 
be  much  more  convenient  to  them;  and  that  Air.  Lowry  had  offered 
land  for  a  site  in  that  town,  and  had  further  assured  the  parishioners 
that  the  Rev.  Archdeacon  Charles  d'Este,  the  late  rector,  would,  at 
his  own  proper  charge  and  expense,  erect  and  build  a  convenient 
church  in  the  said  townland  ;  and  the  petitioners  accordingly  prayed 
the  Primate  to  sanction  the  proposed  change  of  site.  The  Primate 
did  not  assent.  Nevertheless,  a  church  or  chapel-of-ease  was  built 
at  Sixmilecross  by  private  subscription,  without  tower  or  chancel, 
and  roofed  with  shingles  ;  but  so  badly  built,  that  the  vestry  had 
constantly  to  vote  money  for  its  repairs.  It  stood  on  the  north  side 
of  the  street  near  the  market-house.  The  old  church  at  Carrickmore 
became  ruinous.  In  1770,  when  the  Rev.  Hugh  Stewart,  ancestor  of 
Sir  J.  M.  Stewart,  Bart.,  became  lessee  of  the  Termon  lands,  he  exerted 
himself  to  have  the  parish  church  rebuilt  near  the  old  site,  and  the 
Board  of  First  Fruits  granted  £500  for  the  purpose.  In  those  days 
probably  this  would  have  sufficed  for  a  country  church.  The 
majority  of  the  Protestant  parishioners,  however  (who  lived  in  or  near 
Sixmilecross — I  suppose  three  or  four  miles  away),  held  a  vestry  meet- 
ing 16  April,  1786,  at  which  they  resolved — "  That  the  Church  reported 
to  be  built  by  Mr.  Stewart  in  Termon  is  very  inconvenient  to  the  people 
of  this  parish  in  regard  of  situation  ;  and  we  also  are  determined  not 


134  ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D. 

to  attend  the  same,  or  repair  it  when  built ;  and  we  also  empower  the 
Church  Wardens  to  report  the  same  to  Mr.  Stewart  and  Mr.  Staples."1 
At   a   subsequent   vestry  meeting   held   \6  Sept.,  and  confirmed  by 
another  more  numerously  attended  on  27  Oct.,  it  was  agreed  to  petition 
the  Lord  Lieutenant2  in  Council,  that  the  parish  church  had  been  in 
ruins  from  time  immemorial,  and  was  in  a  remote  part  of  the  parish ; 
that    Sixmilecross    would    be  a    much    more    convenient   site  ;    that 
Lord  Tyrone  and  the  Primate8  had  consented  to  the  change;  and  that 
Lord  Belmore  had  conveyed  to  the  churchwardens  an  acre  for  the 
site  of  a  new  church.     They  therefore  prayed  his  Grace  and  their 
Lordships  to  make  an  order  accordingly.    The  other  side  replied  that 
it  was  incorrect  to  say  that  the  old  church  had  been  in  ruins  from  time 
immemorial ;  that  it  was  not  quite  one  hundred  years  since  the  chancel 
had  been  burnt,  and  only  fifty  since  there  had  been  a  question  of  repair- 
ing it ;  that  the  site  was  central,  not  remote  ;  whilst  Sixmilecross  was 
on  the  edge  of  the  parish ;  that  neither  Lord  Tyrone  nor  the  Primate 
had  given  any  consent,  nor  been  consulted,  nor  had  Lord  Belmore4 
conveyed  any  site.      In  the  result  the  present  church  at  Carrickmore 
was  commenced.     It  was  completed  in  1792,  and  opened  for  Divine 
service   in    1793  ;  but  not  consecrated  till   1822.      For  several  years 
Divine   service  was    celebrated    in    it    and    Sixmilecross    Church    on 
alternate  Sundays  ;  but  in  181 1  the  latter  became  so  ruinous  that  it  was 
necessary  to  close  it.    In  this  church  Primate  Lord  John  Beresford  used 
to  officiate  when  Rector  of  Termon  ;  and  also  when  Dean  of  Clogher, 
riding   over    from    the   deanery    at    Clogher    for   the   purpose.     The 
materials  of  the  church  were  sold  by  auction  in  three  lots.     —  Hall 
bought   the   flags  for  £2   12s.  od.;    C.  C.  Beresford  (the  rector)  the 
roof  for  £6  ;  whilst  the  walls,  seats,  etc.,  were  bought  by  the  Rev. 
Brown,  P.M.,  for  £g  10s.  od.     For  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  Sixmile- 
cross was  without  a  church.     But  from  about   1830  the  Presbyterian 
congregation  lent  theirs  to  the  rector  on  Sunday  mornings  for  Divine 
service,  before  their  own  commenced,  for  five  years.      In    1834  the 
second  Earl  of  Belmore  granted  the  present  site  close  to  the  town, 
in  Sixmilecross,  which  was  probably  originally  part  of  Cooley,  which 
gave  its  name  to  the  district  parish  formed   out  of  parts  of  Clogh- 
ernie,  Termon,  and    Errigal5 ;   and    a   church  was    built    with  funds 

1  The  rector. 

8  The  Duke  of  Rutland. 

3  Robinson,  Lord  Rokeby. 

*  Robert  Lowry  had  been  succeeded,  in  1764,  in  this  estate  by  his  brother  Galbraith  ;  and  the 
latter,  in  1769,  by  his  son,  Armar  Lowry-Corry,  who  had  been  created  Baron  Belmore  in  1781. 

8  Cloghernie  gave  five  townlands,  Errigalkeerogue  five,  and  Ternionmaguirk  fourteen.  The 
rectors  of  Cloghernie  and  Termon  presented  by  turns,  I  believe. 


ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.D.  1 35 

obtained  from  the  Board  of  First  Fruits,  and  was  consecrated  in 
Sept.  1836.  The  parish  was  constituted  by  order  in  Council,  in  1837, 
as  the  parish  of  Cooley.  The  name  was  changed  to  Sixmilecross  by 
a  vote  of  the  Armagh  Diocesan  Synod  about  1873,  on  mY  motion. 
The  first  incumbent  was  the  Rev.  Andrew  Christie ;  the  second  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Bell,  who  commuted  and  compounded,  and  resigned  after 
Disestablishment.  The  parish  then  came  on  to  the  Diocesan  Scheme 
with  an  income  of  ^250  a  year,  having  been  only  .£110  before. 
I  understood  at  the  time,  that  since  a  church  built  at  Dunmoyle  by 
the  late  Col.  Deane  Mann,  D.L.,  in  the  Errigal  part  of  the  parish,  was 
consecrated,  the  stipend  was  increased  on  account  of  it  to  £300  (but 
I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  it).1  The  glebe  house  for  Termon 
was  originally  intended  to  have  been  built  (by  Rev.  Dr.  Stewart)  in 
Altdrummond ;  but  in  1810  Mr.  Beresford  got  the  site  changed  to 
the  site  known  as  Termon  Rectory — purchased  after  Disestablishment 
by  the  Rev.  S.  Alexander,  the  then  rector.  The  Sixmilecross  glebe 
house  was  built  close  to  the  church  about  1859.  To  return  to 
Cloghernie  proper.  After  the  division  of  the  parish,  Archdeacon 
d'Este  resigned,  and  Robert  Lowry  appointed  his  brother  James,  then 
a  young  man  of  about  twenty-one.-  Whether  he  ever  resided  I  do  not 
know,  but  there  was  no  glebe  house  in  his  time,  and  he  built  a  house 
for  himself  at  Rockdale,  in  the  parish  of  Desertcreat,  on  his  own  estate, 
and  now  the  residence  of  Captain  E.  Lowry,  d.l.  In  1745  he 
exchanged  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Dobbs,  Rector  of  Desertcreat: 
no  doubt  with  the  assent  of  the  patron.  Dr.  Dobbs  died  in  1775, 
and  Armar  Lowry-Corry  presented  the  Rev.  John  Lowry,  son  of 
James,  who  resigned  in  1794.  Lord  Belmore  then  presented  the  late 
rector's  son  James,  who  was  holding  the  living  when  my  grandfather 
sold  the  advowson  to  Trinity  College  in  1828,  as  before  related. 
Of  this  incumbent,  who  was  not  without  his  share  of  eccentricities, 
and  of  his  father,  traditions  lingered  in  the  neighbourhood  for  a  long 
time. 

After  the  division  of  the  parish,  Cloghernie  Church  became  the 
parish  church  for  that  new  parish.  The  north  and  south  walls  of  the 
aisles  are  the  only  parts  of  the  original  fabric  remaining.  The  Rev. 
John  Lowry  put  up  the  gallery  for  the  use  of  the  rector's  family  at  his 

1  Since,  Mr.  Bell,  the  Rev.  William  Weir,  the  Rev.  Dr.  O'Loughlin,  the  Rev.  Hamilton, 
and  the  Rev.  Charles  Williams  have  been  the  incumbents  of  Sixmilecross.  By  the  Diocesan 
accounts  the  increase  of  stipend  seems  to  have  lapsed. 

2  As  it  is  stated  in  his  father's  own  handwriting,  in  a  Bible  in  my  possession,  that  he  was  born 
6  July,  171 1,  he  must  have  been  under  the  proper  canonical  age  for  ordination. 


I36  ROBERT   VICARS   DIXON,   D.I). 

own  expense,  and  his  son  James  built  the  tower.  During  the  progress 
of  some  extensive  repairs,  which  cost  ,£600,  nearly  entirely  defrayed 
by  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners,  the  removal  of  the  plaster  revealed 
traces  of  numerous  doors  and  windows  which  had  been  opened  in  the 
walls  and  closed  again.  Some  of  the  lintels  being  deeply  charred, 
show  that  at  some  time  in  its  history  the  church  had  been  burnt.  Its 
whole  interior  also  had  been  used  for  burials:  this  was  probably  when 
it  was  roofless.  The  original  churchyard  was  limited  to  the  area 
enclosed  by  the  sycamore  trees  in  it.  It  was  enlarged  to  its  present 
extent  by  the  Rev.  John  Lowry.  At  the  other  side  of  the  parish, 
near  where  the  dioceses  of  Armagh,  Clogher,  and  Derry  join,  is  a 
chapel-of-ease  at  Seskinore. 

The  village  of  Beragh  was  built  about  1780,  the  leases  of  the  sites 
being  given  by  Armar  Lowry-Corry,1  under  the  name  of  Lowrystown, 
which  however  seems  to  be  quite  obsolete  now.  The  rectory  house 
was  built  by  the  Rev.  John  Lowry  in  1778,  and  enlarged  by  the 
addition  of  two  comparatively  enormous  wings  by  the  Rev.  James 
Lowry  in  1830.-'  It  was  purchased  after  Disestablishment  by  Dr.  Dixon 
from  the  representative  body.  But  after  his  death,  difficulties  having 
arisen  about  building  a  new  rectory  house,  it  was  first  let  to  the  rector, 
and  after  a  time  sold  back  to  the  vestry,  who  I  think  purchased,  with 
the  aid  of  a  loan,  under  "  Mulholland's  Act,"  from  Mrs.  Dixon. 

So  far  the  history  of  the  parish  down  to  1828.  Trinity  College 
had  some  twenty-five  years  to  wait  before  receiving  any  return  for  their 
investment  of  ^14,000  purchase  money,  in  order  "  to  take  out  a  Fellow  " 
(losing  the  interest  on  it),  and  only  had  a  single  chance  of  presentation. 
They,  however,  got  £1 1,701  2s.  Sd.  at  Disestablishment.  The  incum- 
bents since  Dr.  Dixon  have  been  the  Rev.  W.  Magee3  (at  first  only  a 
"  Primate's  curate,"  until  he  received  priest's  orders) ;  the  Rev.  W.  F. 
Stokes,  Fellow  of  Caius  College,  Cambridge4 ;  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Burton  6 ; 
the  Rev.  J.  Sides  ;  and  now  the  Rev.  J.  Hunter.  So  that  in  the 
seventeen  years  since  his  death,  Dr.  Dixon  has  had  more  successors  in 
Cloghernie  than  predecessors  since  the  division  of  Termonmaguirk 
in    1731. 

1  Afterwards  Earl  of  Bel  more. 

2  I  have  heard  a  family  tradition,  that  the  Rev.  James  Lowry,  in  his  younger  days,  had  an 
idea  that  he  would  probably  become  heir  to  my  great-grandfather's  estates  ;  as  my  grandfather, 
owing  to  an  accident  or  illness,  which  lamed  him  for  life,  was,  as  a  boy,  not  expected  to  live  long. 
Being  disappointed  in  this  expectation,  he  said,  that  as  he  could  not  have  Castlecoole,  he  would 
make  his  rectory  as  large  as  Castlecoole.  There  were  always  a  number  of  persons  nearer  the 
succession  than  James  Lowry. 

s  Now  Encumbent  of  Killylea;  and  cousin  of  the  late  Archbishop  of  York. 
4  An  assistant  master  at  Rugby  School. 
8  Incumbent  of  Killyleagh. 


ROBERT   VICARS    DIXON,   D.I).  1 3/ 

The  following  list  of  licensed  curates'  assistants  is  made  from  one 
compiled  by  Dr.  Dixon  : 
For  the  undivided  parish  of  Termonmaguirk — 

Daniel   Hyckes,   before   1622.  John   Forbes,   before   1679. 

James  Boyke,  ,,        1628.  Archibald   Wilson,        1697. 

For  Cloghernie  after  division  of  the  parish — 

Alexander  Colhoun,  sen.  Michael   Burke,        1817-22. 

Alexander  Colhoun,  jun.,  resigned  about  17S0.         Thomas  C.  Wade,  1822-24. 

George  Wright,                         ,,           ,,  1786.         Arthur  Young,        1824-70. 

Daniel  Lucas,  about   1786-1815.  Richard   Smyth,       1870. 
George   Buchanan,    18 15-17. 

The  Rev.  W.  T.  Latimer,  p.m.,  of  Eglish,  Co.  Tyrone,  has  published 
an  account  of  the  Presbyterian  congregation  of  the  parish,  to  which 
I  may  refer  readers  of  this  paper.  I  need  only  add  that  the  original 
congregation  is  now  divided  into  three  ;  viz.,  at  Seskinore,  Dervaghroy, 
and  Sixmilecross. 

In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  the  original  parish  was  divided 
after  a  time  into  two — -Termonmaguirk  and  Ballintackin.  The  latter  is 
now  called  Beragh.  In  the  time  of  the  penal  laws  the  congregations 
used  to  worship  at  altars  in  the  open  air.  In  the  adjoining  parish 
of  Errigalkeerogue  such  an  altar  was  still  in  use  so  late  as  1861, 
at  Altmuskan.  There  were  (besides  probably  others)  two  altars 
at  Cloghernie-Slave,1  one  at  Carrickmore,  and  one  at  Drumduff. 
A  chapel  was  built  at  Carrickmore  in  1786,  when  the  vestry  of 
Termonmaguirk  voted  £10  towards  it.  A  large  new  chapel  was 
built  there  about  1846.  The  chapel  at  Loughmacrory  was  built  in 
1833;  that  at  Creggan  a  year  or  two  later.  The  chapel  at  Beragh 
was  commenced  in  1801.  The  chapel  at  Drumduff  was  built  in  1839, 
to  replace  the  altar  station  there.  In  1802  the  vestry  of  Termon- 
maguirk passed  a  resolution  to  grant  £10  "towards  building  a  Mass 
house,  towards  the  Drumduff  end  of  this  parish,  to  be  paid  to  the 
Right  Hon.  Attorney-General's-  hands,  to  be  applied  for  said  purpose." 
The  chapel  at  Seskinore  was  originally  a  dwelling-house,  purchased  in 
1839,  enlarged  and  converted  into  a  chapel. 

1  It  is  said  that  when  a  man  named  Galbraith  became  a  magistrate  some  generations  ago, 
stations  at  Cloghernie-Slave  were  discontinued. 

2  Sir   lohn  Stewart,   Bart. 


i3« 


THE    FRENCH    PRISONERS    IN    BELFAST,    1759-1763. 


The  French  Prisoners   in   Belfast, 
17594763. 

(  Continued  from  page  J 2. ) 


(   31    ) 

this  deponent  is  convinced  was  true,  and  ac- 
cordingly he  reported  the  fame  to  col.  Hig- 
gin/on,  together  with  the  poornefs  and  coarf- 
nefs  of  next  day's  beef;  which  this  deponent 
fent  for  rar.  Wm.  Haven  to  witnefs  to,  as  it 
was  chiefly  compofed  of  houghs,  necks,  and 
udders.  This  deponent  further  depofes,  that 
nir.  Stan/on  did  not,  nor  would  attend  to  the 
redrefs  of  this,  or  any  thing  complained  of, 
till  the  gentlemen  of  the  town  addreffed  the 
Commillioners  againft  him  ;  and  then,  and 
not  till  then,  were  the  prifoners  fupplied  with 
Straw  and  Salt,  and  vifited  by  mr.  Stanton, 
which  he  had  neglected  to  do  before  that 
time,  frequently  for  months  together ;  but 
the  lick  (lill  continue  to  be  on  half  allowance. 


Wm.  Stuart, 
Lieut,  in  the 
62d  Regiment 
of  Foot. 


Sworn  before  me  at  Belfafl 
in  the  County  0/"  Antrim, 
this  "]th  Day  of  Februa- 
ry, 1 76 1. 

James  Hamilton, 
Sovereign. 


(   32    ) 

The   Affidavit   of  Mr.   Wm.    Haven,  Mer- 
chant in  Belfafl. 

[N  UM.  V.] 

WILLIAM  HAVEN  of  Belfafl  in 
the  county  of  Antrim,  merchant, 
came  this  day  before  me,  and  made  oath, 
that  on  Saturday,  the  twenty  feventh  day  of 
December  laft,  this  deponent,  being  Mafler 
of  the  True-blue  Lodge  of  Free  and 
accepted  Masons,  affembled  to  celebrate 
the  Feflival  of  Saint  fohn,  unanimoufly  was 
addreffed  by  the  feveral  gentlemen  who  com- 
pofed the  fame,  to  invite,  in  their  names,  Mr. 
Sovereign,  lieut.  col.  Higginson,  and  fome 
other  gentlemen  of  the  town  to  meet  them  the 
Monday  following,  in  order  to  fall  upon  fome 
fcheme  for  the  relief  of  the  French  Prifoners, 
which  the  faid  Lodge  thought  to  be  highly 
becoming,  as  two  of  the  French  officers  were 
their  brethren  ;  and  neceffary,  becaufe  col. 
Higginfon,  and  his  officers,  had  declared  it 
abfolutely  fo  for  feveral  months  before,  in  al- 
moft  every  company  they  entered  into.  And 
this  deponent  faith,  that  in  obedience  to  the 
refolution  of  faid  Lodge,  he  did  invite  Mr. 
Sovereign,  lieut.  col.  Higginfon,  and  feveral 
gentlemen  of  the  town  to  meet  them  the 
Monday  following,  in  the  evening;  and  when 

affem- 


Copy  of  Add.  MSS.  32,903,  F.  86. 

Dublin  Castle 

March  ye  5th   1760. 
My  dear  Lord, 

I  return  Your  Grace  many  thanks  for  your  very  kind  letter  by  Wynne  ye  Messenger 
which  I  immediately  shew'd  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  who  will  himself  convince  Your  Grace 
of  the  entire  propriety  of  every  part  of  it.  I  am  very  sorry  you  shou'd  for  a  day  have  imagin'd 
that  I  cou'd  forget  you.  I  can  never  forget  such  favours  as  Your  Grace  has  bestow'd  upon 
me,  or  the  manner  in  which  they  were  given.  I  sent  your  Grace  my  warmest  thanks  for 
Tisdall's  favour,  which  both  the  Duke  of  Bedford  and  I  plac'd  singly  to  your  account,  and 
which  I  thought  and  think  was  a  very  particular  mark  of  favour  shewn  to  me  personally,  as 
I  had  explain'd  that  matter  in  my  correspondence  to  yr  Grace  upon  it. 

The  plain  truth  of  my  silence,  which  shall  never  be  so  long  again,  was  the  want  of  matter 
of  consequence  enough  to  transmit  to  you,  I  wrote  to  you  when  events  happen'd  either  in 
Parliament  or  in  the  kingdom.  No  neglect  or  laziness  was  the  cause,  but  the  apprehension 
of  being  troublesome.  If  your  Grace  thinks  my  letters  worth  reading,  I  like  &  choose  to 
have  the  honour  to  write  to  you. 


THE   FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1759-1763. 


139 


(  33  ) 

affembled,  the  whole  gentlemen  being  of  o- 
pinion  that  the  grievances  complained  of  by 
the  Prifoners,  arofe  from  their  Commiffary 
mr.  Stanton's  neglect  ;  and  that  as  he  had 
abfolutely  refufed  col.  Higginfon  the  fmalleft 
hopes  of  redrefs,  that  he  could  be  no  longer 
depended  upon,  and  therefore  was  unfit  for 
his  faid  office.  Whereupon  col.  Higginfon 
promifed  to  furnifh  the  town  with  the  par- 
ticulars of  his  complaint  in  writing,  and  a 
committee  was  appointed  out  of  the  gentle- 
men prefent,  to  draw  up  a  proper  Remon- 
ftrance  againft  mr.  Stanton  in  confequence 
thereof,  to  the  Commifiioners  in  England, 
his  employers ;  which  resolution  this  depo- 
nent in  his  confcience  is  convinced,  was  en- 
tirely taken  from  the  neceffity  there  appear- 
ed for  it,  and  not  from  any  pique,  prejudice, 
or  refentment,  but  what  then  naturally  arofe 
in  every  man's  bread  againft  mr.  Stanton, 
for  his  obftinacy  and  mifbehaviour  in  his 
faid  office.  And  this  deponent  faith,  that 
col.  Higginfon  did  furnifh  the  town  with  the 
particulars  of  his  faid  complaint  againft  mr. 
Stanton,  and  that  thereupon  mr.  Sovereign 
fummoned  the  Inhabitants  in  the  Town-hall : 
When,  after  an  examination  of  col.  Higginfon, 
feveral  of  his  officers,  mr.  John  Bradfhaw 
merchant,  this  deponent,  and  others  ;  it  was 
again  refolved,  that  a  Remonftrance  fhould 
be  drawn  up  againft  mr.  Stanton,  to  the 
E  Com- 


(  34  ) 
Commiffioners,  his  employers,  in  England. 
This  deponent  further  depofeth,  that  on  or 
about  the  fourth  day  of  January  laft,  he  went 
in  company  with  the  reverend  James  Mackay, 
to  vilit  the  French  I'rifoners  in  the  Barrack, 
in  order  to  acquaint  himfelf  fully  with  the 
truth,  and  matter  of  col.  Higginfon's  com- 
plaint to  the  town  :  And  faith,  that  he,  and  the 
faid  mr.  Mackay,  attended  by  a  fergeant, 
went  through  the  feveral  rooms  of  the  Bar- 
rack ;  which  were  moft  offenfive,  from  the 
ftench  of  the  Prifoners  ;  who  informed  this 
deponent,  and  faid  mr.  Mackay,  that  they  had 
wanted  Straw  for  a  confiderable  time  till  that 
day,  or  a  day  or  two  before,  that  fome  frcfli 
Straw  had  been  delivered  to  fome  of  them  ; 
that  each  room  contained  from  twenty-eight, 
to  thirty-two  men,  who  had  only  twenty-one 
turff,  or  a  very  ftnall  bowl  of  coals  allowed 
for  each  ;  which  obliged  them  to  fell  part  of 
their  beef  at  the  rate  of  one  half-penny  for 
three  quarters  of  a  pound,  to  buy  fuel,  fait, 
vegetables,  foap,  and  other  neceffaries  (the 
truth  of  which  was  confirmed  by  the  faid 
fergeant,)  and  that  were  they  paid  the  fix- 
pence  per  day  allowed  each  man  by  his  Ma- 
jefty,  which  they  fome  time  did  receive,  and 
which  the  Prifoners  at  Cajlle-Dawfon  now  re- 
ceive, they  would  be  able  to  purchafe  all  the 
feveral  articles  they  flood  in  need  of,  and 
thereby   made    quite    happy.     And    this    de- 

po- 


Our  Session  of  Parliament  is  at  last  drawing  towards  a  conclusion,  next  Saturday 
Sen'night  being  the  day  fix'd  for  our  recess,  when  all  the  Bills  will  be  transmitted.  Poor 
Clements's  Bill  pass'd  the  House  of  Commons  Nem:  Con:  &  is  now  in  Will:  Sharpe's  hands, 
and  the  Clamour  and  confusion  of  that  ill  judg'd  unhappy  affair  is  subsided  and  blown  over. 
Lord  Newtown  often  tells  me  of  a  letter  he  wrote  Your  Grace  some  time  ago,  &  seems 
very  impatient  for  an  answer,   I  fear  he  is  very  poor. 

I  inclose  your  Grace  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Capt  Elliott  of  the  /Eolus  to  my  Lord  Lieut: 
and  also  a  copy  of  one  I  received  this  morning  from  Coll:  Sandford,  who  now  is  ye  Com- 
manding Officer  at  Belfast,  concerning  the  French  Prisoners  now  at  that  Place.  My  Lord 
Lieut,  has  taken  the  best  care  to  distribute  Those  People  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom 
that  is  possible.      I  am  with  the  most  entire  regard 

Your  Grace's  most  oblig'd 

and  obedient  humble  Servant 

Richd  Ricky. 

[In  the  bottom  left-hand  corner  of  the  first  page  of  this  letter  are  the  words  "  Duke  of  New- 
castle.'-    The  letter  is  endorsed  "  Dublin,  March  5th  1760  Mr  Rigby.  R.  10th."] 


Copy  of  Add.  MSS.  32,903,  F.  90,  b.  m. 

Sir, 

I  herein  inclose  you  a  List  of  the  Prisoners  taken  in  Monsr  Thurot's  Squadron  on  Thurs- 
day last  in  the  Morning,  Mons  Flobert,  their  Commander,  who  was  slightly  wounded  in  the 
leg  at  the  attack  at  Carrickfergus  came  to  Town  last  night,  Monsr  Cavanac,  L'  Col.  in  the 
French  Service  who  is  slightly  wounded  in  the  Head  with  8  or  10  sick  Prisoners,  are  left 
behind,  the  rest  are  all  here. 


140  THE    FRENCH    PRISONERS  IN    BELFAST,    1759-1763. 


(  35  ) 
ponenl  faith,  thai  he  believes  this  would 
be  tlic  cafe,  as  col.  Higginfon  is  of  the  lame 
opinion,  and  has  promis'd  to  regulate,  and  al- 
low them  a  proper  market  for  every  thing, 
to  this  end  :  Hut  this  deponent  faith,  that  on 
laid  4th  day  of  January,  the  laid  Prifoners 
were  almoft  naked  ;  nafty,  to  a  very  great 
degree ;  and,  truly,  great  objects  of  com- 
panion ;  which  this  deponent  believes  is,  and 
will  ftill  be  the  cafe,  unlefs  a  faithful  and  re- 
ligious application  of  his  Majefty's  royal  boun- 
ty is  ordered  to  their  ufe  ;  or  unlefs  they  are 
put  on  fuel)  a  footing  as  the  humanity  of  the 
gentlemen  of  the  town  and  neighbourhood 
of  Caftle- Daw/on ,  procured  for  the  prifoners 
confined  there  ;  which,  by  all  accounts,  has 
rendered  thofe  men  as  happy  as  the  nature 
of  their  circumftances  can  poffibly  permit 
them  to  be.  This  deponent  farther  depof- 
eth,  that  he  went  with  faid  mr.  Mackay,  and 
the  captain  of  the  guard,  after  vifiting  the 
rooms,  to  vilit  the  hofpital  ;  where  they  found 
one  man  feemingly  near  death,  attended  by 
another  of  the  prifoners  ;  who  after  being 
queftioned  in  French  by  faid  captain,  the  lat- 
ter informed  this  deponent,  and  faid  mr. 
Mackay,  that  the  prifoner  fo  attending  as  a- 
forefaid,  had  an  allowance  for  acting  as  fur- 
geon's  mate  to  faid  mr.  Stanton,  of  three- 
pence per  day  ;  (which  trifle  tie  even  had  a 
difficulty  to  obtain)  that  the  fick  man  had 
E  2  wanted 


(   36   ) 

wanted  Straw  to  lie  upon  for  a  confiderable 
time  :  that  he  had  not  tire  enough  to  drefs 
his  victuals  ;  and  that  he  even  wanted  the 
neceflaries  of  life,  by  being  put  on  half  allow- 
ance :  wherefore,  feveral  of  the  others  who 
had  different  complaints,  wou'd  not  declare 
thejnfelves  out  of  order,  but  rather  linger  under 
them,  to  avoid  being  ftarved  in  the  hofpital. 
And  this  deponent  faith,  that  next  morning 
he  was  fent  to  by  faid  captain  of  the  guard, 
to  view  and  witnefs  to  the  coarfenefs  of  the 
beef  that  day  to  be  delivered  to  the  Prifon- 
ers ;  which  was  chiefly  compofed  of  necks, 
houghs,  and  udders  ;  and  in  general  very 
poor  and  ordinary  :  All  which,  in  prefence 
of  this  deponent,  the  faid  captain  reported  in 
writing,  together  with  the  cafe  of  the  fick 
man,  to  col.  Higginfon.  This  deponent  far- 
ther depofeth,  that  on,  or  about  the  24th  day 

of  June  laft,  he  was  applied  to  by  M. * 

one  of  the  French  officers,  upon  parole  in 
Belfaft  aforefaid,  and  informed,  that  being 
much  indifpofed,  he  had  applied  to  mr  Stan- 
ton for  fome  what  to  make  him  a  Ptifan  ;  but 
was  told  to  go  to  another  fhop,  for  he  fhould 
have  no  medicine  from  him,  unlefs  he  wou'd 
go  to  the  hofpital  in  the  Barracks  ;  which 
faid  M. refufed,  because  it  is,  as  this  de- 
ponent faith,  a  room  with  an  earthen  floor, 

and 

*  In  Delicacy  to  the  French  Officers,  their  names  are 
here  omitted. 


As  I  had  no  Directions  about  my  Conduct  to  these  Prisoners,  I  have  copied  after  their 
Treatment  to  our  Officers  at  St:  Las,  and  have  therefore  used  them  as  well  as  I  could  :  The 
Officers  are  on  their  Parole,  and  I  gave  (such  as  had  them)  Leave  to  wear  their  Swords  which 
were  but  few,  for  the  Sailors  plundered  them  long  before  they  came  on  shore,  since  when 
I  have  taken  all  imaginable  care  to  have  them  well  used.  They  seem  very  happy  in  their 
present  State,  nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  Officers  of  the  French  Guards  should 
prefer  any  Land  to  busking  about  the  North  Seas  for  Six  Months,  for  so  long  it  was  (as  they 
saiil  Yesterday)  from  the  time  of  their  Embarkation.  They  abuse  M.  Thurot  most  pro- 
digiously ;  they  say  he  was  nothing  but  a  Buccaneer,  had  Courage,  but  no  other  Requisite  for 
an  Officer.  They  give  very  great  Commendations  to  the  Bravery  of  Lieut:  Col:  Jennings  and 
with  great  Justice,  his  Conduct  thro'  the  whole  deserves  great  Applause,  and  I  believe  no 
body  could  have  acted  better  than  he  did.  By  the  best  Information  he  killed  near  100  of  the 
Enemy  and  did  not  lose  more  than  12  or  15  of  his  Men  killed  and  wounded  and  when  they 
were  in  Possesion  of  the  Castle  made  very  good  Terms  for  his  troops,  the  Particulars  of  which 
you  are  already  acquainted  with. 

The  Officers,  who  all  expected  to  be  taken  Prisoners  have  brought  Letters  of  Credit  on 
London,  Dublin,  Corke  and  other  Places  and  the  Merchants  here  have  given  them  some 
Money  on  that  Account  :  The  Officers  desire  to  remain  where  their  Men  are,  I  told  them 
if  they  had  an  Inclination  to  go  to  Dublin  or  any  other  part  of  the  kingdom  I  would  apply  to 
His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Bedford  for  Leave,  but  I  think  all  Places  are  alike  to  them.  I  have 
just  now  ordered  some  Ships  which  anchor  at  the  C)uay  to  unbend  their  Sails  and  lodge  them 
on  Shore,  or  else  Anchor  at  a  Distance,  for  there  are  many  Sailors,  and  our  Prison  not 
a  secure  one. 

I  hope  it  will  be  agreeable  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford  to  know  that  in  such  Particulars  as 
I  had  nothing  to  direct  me  but  my  Endeavours  lor  the  Service  of  the  Country,  I  have  shewn 


THE    FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1 759-1 763. 


141 


as  much  favour  as  I  could  to  these  miserable  Men,  without  incurring  any  Expence  which 
could  be  avoided  and  hope  to  have  acted  properly  in  a  Sphere  which  is  entirely  new  to  mc, 
and  from  which  I  most  sincerely  wish  myself  free. 

I  am,   &c 

E.  Sandforo. 
Belfast  March  4th  1760 

2  o'Clock  at  Noon 

[Endorsed]  Belfast,  Mar  4'.'.1   1760.    2  o'clock  at   Noon.      Copy   Lre  from  Col:   Sandford  to 

Mr    Rigby    inclosing  a   List    of  the    Prisoners   taken    in    M.    Thurot's    Squadron. 

In  Mr.   Rigby's  of  March  5'.!'  1760. 


Regiment.- 


Copy  of  Add.  MSS.  32,903,  F.  88. 

Officers  Names. 


French  Guards 


Burgundy. 


(  Mr  <le  Cavenac  Lieut  Col'.1 

ChevK  de  Bragelone  Major  Gen1- 

Le  Comte  de  Kersalo  Capt:  Lieut. 

Le  Marquis  de  Caroyle  Gentil  Capt:  Lt: 

Le  Marquis  de  Canis  Capt:  Lieut: 

Chevr-  de  Miramont  Capt:  I.'     

Serjeants  Corporals  &  Private  Men   

1    Castella  Capt.  Lieut. 

Swiss  Guards       -     Carrer  Captain  Lieutenant 

I    Serj'.s  Corporals  &  Private  Men 

Gunners  and   Miners   

De  Russilly... Commandant 

Dortoman... Adjutant  &  Cap' 

Demaille  Captain 

Beauhamel  Captain 

Chamboran  Lieut: 

Duplex  Lieut: 

Maillejean  Lieut: 

Garcon  Lieut: 

Parisol  Lieut:    

Serjeants,  Corporals  and  Private  Men 

Frechancourt  Captain 

Barantin  Lieut: 

Dejoye  Lieut :    

\   Serjeants,  Corporals  and  Private  Men  

Le  Comte  de  Skordee  L'.  Col."  of  Hussars 
Voluntaires  Etrangers.      Serjeants  Corporals  &  Private  Men  ... 

Laine  Second  Cap* 

Malet  L'aine  Lieutenant 
Sea  Officers  {     Malet  Cadet  Lieuten* 

Antoine  de  Catre  Officer 

Seamen  

Officers  Servants 


Cam  bis. 


72 
5 


108 

43 
17 


39 
27 


409 


[Endorsed]    Copy  List  of  Prisoners  taken  in  Monsieur  Thurot's  Squadron. 
In  Col'.'  Sandfords  of  4'/'  March.   1760 
In  Mr  Rigby's  of  March  51.'1  1760. 

(To  be  continued.) 


Miscellanea     &?      f 


The  Lyric  Magazine. 

I  civk  herewith  the  title-page  of  a  rare— (I  have  never  heard  of  another  copy)— little  Belfast 
i2mo  volume,  printed  by  Joseph  Smyth  in  1820.  It  is  in  three  parts,  and  contains  a  great 
variety  of  poems.  It  came  to  me  as  a  friend  of  Luke  Mullan  Hope,  editor  of  the  Rushlight, 
who  doubtless  was  at  the  printing  of  it,  he  being  at  that  time  a  printer  in  Smyth's. 

F.  J.  B. 


(Vol.  I.— No.  i,  price  6£d.] 


THE 

LYRIC  MAGAZINE: 

A  collection  of 

POPULAR  SONGS  AND  BALLADS; 

With  some 

Never  before  published 


This  compilation  will  be  continued  from  time  to  time, 

according  to  the  encouragement  it  may  receive  ; 

and  besides  the  best  modern  songs,  there 

will  be  inserted  many  of  an  earlier  date,  now  become 

curious  for  their  rarity 


Each   Volume  contains  3  Numbers 


BELFAST 

Printed  and  published  by  Joseph  Smyth 
34,  High-Street, 


June,  1820. 


Papal  Nuncio's  Visit  to  Ireland,  temp.  Henry  VII!. 
(Journal  io°3»  pp.  ioit  176,  185;  and  1904,  p.  41.) 
His  name  was  Francesco  Chiericati  (not  Chiericata),  and  the  letters  quoted  by  Julia 
Cart wright  (Mrs.  Ady)  in  her  Isabella  cTEste,  Marchioness  of  Mantua,  and  reproduced  in 
Lord  Belmore's  paper  on  "  Termon  Magrath,"  were  given  in  an  Italian  book  by  B.  Morsolin, 
published  at  Vicenza  in  1873.  The  date  of  the  Embassy  and  visit  to  Ireland  was  151 7,  which, 
at  p.  101  of  vol.  ix,  U.  J.  A.,  is  erroneously  given  as  a  century  later.  The  reference  to  Dro- 
more  which  was  so  puzzling  should  be  to  Drogheda  (Drogda).  I  hope  to  reprint  the  Irish 
portion,  and  shall  be  glad  to  receive  illustrative  notes.      Mrs.  Ady  is  preparing  a  new  edition. 

J.    R.  Garstin. 
Castlebellingh  a  m . 


MISCELLANEA. 


143 


O'Neill. 

In  the  old  churchyard  of  Ardclinis,  on  the  Antrim  coast  road,  under  the  brow  of  Garron, 
there  are  three  tombstones,  side  by  side,  close  to  the  west  wall  of  the  ruined  church  :  one  is 
in  memory  of  a  Shane  O'Neill,  who  died  in  1792,  with  an  elaborate  carving  of  the  O'Neill 
arms  ;  the  other  two  bear  the  names  of  Loughlin  McCart,  1800,  and  Bryan  McKart,  1783. 
It  is  evident  that  these  glensmen  were  all  O'Neills — one  Loughlin  MacArt  O'Neill,  and  the 
other  Bryan  MacArt  O'Neill.  The  older  surname  had  been  dropped  in  favour  of  their  own 
immediate  paternity.  The  different  spelling  is  never  of  any  importance  in  such  records. 
This  is  a  clear  proof  of  the  rise  of  the  minor  family  names  in  Irish  clans.  F.  ].  B. 

The  Savages  of  the  Ardes. — Patrick  Savage,  Knight  of  the  Shire. 

"This  indenture  made  at  Downepatricke  in  the  county  of  Dovvne  the  first  daie  of  December 
in  nynteenth  yeare  of  the  Raigne  of  our  Souvraigne  Lord  King  Charles  of  England  Scotland 
ffraunce  and  Ireland  Betweene  Peter  Hill  Esqr  high  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Downe  on  the 
one  partie  And  the  Gentlemen  and  ffreehoulders  of  the  said  County  on  the  other  partie 
Witnesseth  that  according  to  the  forme  of  the  Write  of  these  Indentures  annexed,  out  of  the 
most  honourable  House  of  Commons  of  the  Parlament  of  Ireland  and  directed  unto  the  said 
high  Sheriff  Have  chosen  Patrick  Savadge  Esqr  to  be  Knight  of  the  Shire  in  and  at  the  parla- 
ment  specified  in  the  said  write,  in  the  place  of  Sr  Edward  Trevor  Knight  deceased,  who  hath 
sufficient  power  for  himself  and  the  commonalitie  of  the  said  county  to  doe  &  consent  as  the 
said  write  requireth.  In  witness  whereof  the  Parties  to  these  presents  have  interchangeable 
putt  to  their  hands  and  seals  the  day  and  yeare  first  above  written. 

"  P.  Hill. 

This  was  Patrick  Savadge  of  Portaferry,  who,  in  August  1623,  married  Jean,  daughter 
of  the  first  Viscount  Montgomery.  He  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Montgomery  manu- 
scripts. His  name  is  not  included  in  the  list  of  members  for  the  County  D  >wn  given  in 
Lowry's  Hamilton  Manuscript ;  but  as  he  died  in  March  1644,  it  is  probable  that  he  never 
took  his  seat  in  Parliament.  The  above  indenture  is  copied  from  the  original  in  possession 
of  General  Nugent.  Edward  H.  S.  Nugent. 

Down  Volunteers. 

I  HAVE  copied  the  following  record  from  amongst  General  Nugent's  papers  at  Portaferry  : 
"A  Return  of  the  Ards  Battalion. 
"Patrick  Savage,  Col.  commandant. 

1.  or  Cols.  Company 

2.  or  Capt"  Mathews 

3.  or  Capt.  Echlins 

4.  or  Light  Company 


"  Sr    I  take  the  Liberty  of  enclosing  you  a  Return  of  the  Ards  Battalion  &  of  requesting 

you  will  take  the  trouble  of  presenting  same  to  His  Excellency  the  Lord  Lieutenant  with  the 

address  of  the  Battalion.       .,  T  ,         c.    .,     ,  .     ,        •,,   D 

"  I  have  Sir  the  honour  to  be  with  Respect 

"  Your  most  Obed'  &.  Faithful  Humble  Servant, 

"  Pat.  Savage." 

"  To  his  Excellency  Frederick   Earl  of   Carlisle    Lieutenant  General  &  General  Governor 

of  Ireland. 

"We  the  Officers  &   Privates  of  the  Ards  Battalion  think  it  incumbent  on  us  at  this 

Time  to  testify  Our  Loyalty  &  Attachment  to  His  Majesty  &  also  to  assure  your  Excellency 

that  we  shall  on  every  Occasion  be  ready  to  support  our  Sovereign  against  his  enemies  with 

our  Lives  &  Fortunes.  "  Signed  by  order 

Pat.  Savagk." 

Edward  H.  S.  Nugent. 


Officers 

Serjeants 

Drums  &  Fifes 

Rank  &  File 

5 

4 

3 

70 

4 

2 

2 

50 

5 

4 

3 

70 

2 

2 

2 

30 

16 

12 

11 

220 

144  FUTURE    PAPERS    FOR    THE   JOURNAL. 

Richard  Parker  of  the  Nore  Mutiny. 

Amongst  the  valuable  library  of  Belfast-printed  books  in  the  Linen  Hall  Library  there  is  a 
58-page  pamphlet  entitled  Trial  of  Richard  Parker,  late  a  supernumerary  seastnan  on  board 
His  Majesty's  ship  Sandwich,  for  mutiny,  disobedience  of  orders,  and  insolence  to  his  officers, 
etc.  Belfast:  printed  in  the  year  1797.  Parker  was  executed  on  the  30  June,  1797.  The 
pamphlet  contains  a  "  last  letter  to  his  wife  in  Scotland,'-  and  in  a  short  biographical  sketch 
it  is  stated  he  was  the  son  of  an  Kxeter  baker.  I  have  an  engraved  portrait  of  A'.  Parker, 
Delegate  of  the  .Va?>y,  by  G.  Nagle,  in  the  dress  of  the  period.  Had  Parker  any  connection 
with  the  North  of  Ireland?     Can  any  reader  give  any  information  on  this  point  ? 

F.  J.  B. 


T 


Future  Papers  for  the  Journal* 

HE  following  is  a  list  of  some  of  the  papers  contributed  for 
future  numbers  of  the  Journal.  Any  reader  who  has  material 
dealing   with   these   subjects  will   please  communicate  with 


the  editor. 


The  Castle  of  Dutiluce,  with  drawings  and  restorations. 

"  The  Friar"  :  a  Belfast  Character  in  1J98. 

Munro  in  Ulster  in  16^1. 

Targesitts  and  the  Northmen. 

The  Parish  of  Holy  wood. 

Derry-  Printed  Books. 

Prehistoric  Sites  and  Irish  Names  at  Ballycastle  and Murlough. 

Loughinisland  Churches. 

Parly  Engraving  in  Belfast. 

History  of  Coleraine. 

Franciscan  Houses  in    Ulster. 

Standing  Stones  in  Antrim. 

A  Belfast  Informer  s  Information  to  Dublin  Castle  in  'p8. 

The  Attainder  of  Shane  O'Neill. 

The  History  of  Rat/din. 

Inquisition  at  Carrickfergus,  1603. 

The  Landing-place  of  Saint  Patric. 

The  War  of  164.1. 

Ulster  Volunteers. 

Remains  of  Bishop  Bedell. 

Ulster  Poets. 

Irish  Harpers. 


&rJhilLi  o 

Cleifv  GJraytor 


Ileal  c 
of  all  Ireland 


SIR     I'll  F.  I.I  M     ON  HI  LI, 


ULSTER  JOURNAL  OF 

ARCHEOLOGY 

Volume  X OCTOBER   1904 Number  4 

Koitkd  by  FRANCIS  JOSEPH  BIGGER,  m.r.i.a.,  Ardrie,  Belfast. 

Sir  Phelim  O'Neill. 

1604—1652^3. 

By  John   J.  Marshall. 


IR  Phelim  O'Neill!  The  mention  of  that  name  at  once 
arrests  attention  ;  for  around  it,  as  around  no  other,  has 
clashed  conflicting  opinions  for  well-nigh  three  centuries. 
Of  royal  blood,  historic  name,  and  high  position,  he  has  been  alter- 
nately hailed  as  a  high-souled  patriot  or  blood-stained  ruffian,  and 
still  the  long  years  have  not  yet  sufficed  to  cool  the  fires  of  party 
passion  and  award  him  his  final  place  in  history.  Numerous  accounts 
of  his  public  actions  are  to  be  found  scattered  through  the  records 
and  narratives  dealing  with  the  period  to  which  his  career  belongs, 
but  the  references  to  the  domestic  life  of  so  picturesque  and  notable 
a  figure  are  few,  scattered,  and  in  many  cases  obscure ;  yet  his  early 
environment  and  upbringing  must  have  had  their  influence  in  forming 
the  character  of  the  man,  who,  for  a  time,  was  to  enact  so  striking  a 
part  in  moulding  the  destinies  of  his  race. 

1608:  June  5. — When  Sir  Cahir  O'Dogherty,  goaded  to  rebellion 
by  the  Governor  of  Derry,  called  out  the  fighting  men  of  Inisowen, 
amongst  those  who  assisted  the  English  Government  to  quell  the 
rising  was  Sir  Henry  Oge  O'Neill,  who,  in  a  night  attack  made  by 
O'Dogherty  on  the  English  camp,  was  slain  ;  and  in  repelling  the 
attack,  his  eldest  son  and  heir,  Turlogh,  also  received  a  wound  which 
proved  mortal.  Sir  Henry  had,  for  former  services,  received  a  crown 
grant  of  his  estates,  which  were  entailed,  and  consequently  inherited 
by  his  grandson,  Phelim,  aged  four  and  a  half  years,  who  had  a 
younger  brother,  Turlogh — destined  also,  in  after  years,  to  take  a 
leading  part  in  northern  affairs.  Notwithstanding  these  direct  heirs 
K 


I46  SIR    I'HELIM    O'NEILL. 

of  Sir  Henry  O'Neill  and  his  son,  as  soon  as  they  were  slain,  "a  kins- 
man of  his  put  himself  into  arms,  and  made  claim  of  that  country 
after  the  manner  of  Tanistry."  So  wrote  Sir  Arthur  Chichester  to 
Salisbury,  concluding,  "  so  soon  one  mischief  succeeds  another  in  this 
accursed  kingdom." 

Although  the  claimant  by  the  law  of  Tanistry  did  not  succeed,  he 
so  far  influenced  Chichester  that,  despite  the  English  insistence  on 
entailed  succession,  it  was  set  aside  in  this  case,  and  the  estate 
divided  amongst  Sir  Henry  Oge  O'Neill's  heirs  male,  legitimate  and 
illegitimate,  by  grants  under  the  Great  Seal,  dated  14  December, 
161 3.  Some  time  previous  to  this  settlement,  Sir  Phelim's  mother, 
who  was  a  grand-daughter  of  Sir  Turlogh  O'Neill  of  the  Fews,  had 
married  Robert  Hovenden,  who  was,  presumably,  a  son  of  Henry 
Hovenden,  the  noted  foster-brother  of  Hugh,  Earl  of  Tyrone.  By  this 
marriage,  Sir  Phelim  had  two  half-brothers — Henry,  who  died  prior 
to  1641,  and  Alexander,  a  captain  in  Sir  Phelim's  regiment,  killed  in 
a  skirmish  near  Benburb,  1644. 

He  was  entered  as  a  law  student  at  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  and  spent 
three  years  in  London  ;  but,  according  to  Borlase,  being  of  mean  parts, 
made  no  great  progress,  except  in  extravagance,  being  at  Court,  where 
it  is  probable  that  at  this  time  he  got  his  title.  After  his  return  to 
Ireland,  he  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  Arthur  Magennis,  first  Viscount 
Iveagh,  and  as  he  was,  by  blood  and  descent,  the  leading  man  of  his 
name,  set  out  to  maintain  the  traditional  style  of  an  Irish  chief;  but 
"the  roaring  board,  and  the  ready  sword,  were  types  of  a  vanished 
day,"  and  Sir  Phelim  in  a  few  years  found  himself  over  head  and  ears 
in  debt  to  everyone  in  the  district  from  whom  he  could  borrow  money. 
His  property,  which  in  the  loose  measure  of  those  times  consisted  of 
2,300  acres,  was  estimated  to  be  worth  ,£1,600  a  year  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  in  1641.  In  this  desperate  state  of  his  affairs,  when  there 
seemed  nothing  for  it  but  to  hand  over  his  rapidly-dwindling  estate 
to  the  encumbrancers,  he  was  only  too  ready  to  join  in  with  Rory 
O'More  and  Lord  Maguire,  to  whose  political  views  he  seems  to  have 
been  introduced  by  his  brother,  Turlogh  Oge,  who  was  married  to  a 
daughter  of  Randal,  first  Earl  of  Antrim,  who  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  Randal,  Sir  Phelim's  acquaintance,  who  disappointed  him  in  not 
throwing  in  his  lot  with  the  Irish.  The  preparations  were  approaching 
maturity  when  Sir  Phelim's  wife  died  early  in  September,  1641,  pre- 
ceded by  his  stepfather,  Robert  Hovenden,  who  died  on  the  last  day 
of  May,  1 64 1. 


SIR    PHELIM    O'NEILL.  1 47 

The  conspirators  were  unsuccessful  in  Dublin,  but  when  morning 
dawned  on  Saturday,  the  23rd  of  October,  1641,  it  saw  practically  all 
the  strongholds  of  Ulster  in  the  hands  of  the  Irish,  with  Sir  Phelim  in 
chief  command.  He  was  now  borne  aloft  on  the  wave  of  prosperity, 
and  had  the  property  of  the  settlers  at  his  disposal,  wherewith  to 
maintain  the  state  and  dispense  the  hospitality  of  an  Irish  chief  to  his 
followers  and  flatterers,  who  drank  his  health  on  bended  knee,  hailing 
him  as  Lord  General  of  the  Catholic  army  in  Ulster,  Earl  of  Tyrone, 
and  King  of  Ireland  ;  while  his  harper  would  celebrate  in  bold  strains 
the  deeds  of  Phelim  of  the  War,  Phelim  na  Tothane  ("  Phelim  of  the 
smoke  or  burning "),  whom  the  country-people  said  had  brought 
Christmas  before  its  time. 

Amid  all  this  turmoil,  clash  of  arms,  and  party  strife,  Sir  Phelim 
found  time  to  pay  attentions  to  the  widow  of  Claude,  Lord  Strabane. 
He  was  evidently  determined  not  to  let  the  grass  grow  under  his  feet, 
as,  very  little  over  two  months  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  he 
wrote  a  very  friendly  letter  to  the  lady's  brother-in-law,  Sir  William 
Hamilton  of  Dunemanagh,  which  he  winds  up,  "  with  my  service 
unto  yourself  and  my  honoured  Lady  of  Strabane,  unto  whom  I  shall 
be  ready  to  perform  any  service  in  the  power  of  Phe.  O'Neill."  This 
was  followed  by  a  visit  to  Lady  Strabane  of  her  ardent  suitor  in 
December,  and  "  the  gay  Gordon "  seems  to  have  encouraged  his 
addresses.  Accordingly,  in  April  1642,  Sir  Phelim,  with  his  forces, 
attacked  Strabane,  which  was  captured  without  much  difficulty,  the 
lady,  by  all  accounts,  being  a  consenting  party,  and  the  attack  mainly 
to  save  appearances.  The  victorious  general  carried  off  the  lady,  and 
brought  her  either  to  his  house  at  Caledon  or  to  Charlemont  Fort : 
authorities  differ  on  the  subject;  and  the  probable  explanation  is  that 
he  conveyed  her,  via  Dungannon  and  Charlemont,  to  his  house  at 
Kinard  (Caledon).  The  marriage,  however,  did  not  come  off,  as  the 
lady  had  taken  a  vow  of  celibacy  for  either  three  or  five  years,  and  in 
the  unsettled  state  of  affairs  the  parties  seem  to  have  been  unable  to 
procure  a  dispensation  ;  so  she  was  sent,  under  the  guardianship  of  a 
Franciscan  friar,  Patrick  O'Hamill,  and  a  troop  of  horse,  to  Munster, 
to  be  under  the  protection  of  her  brother-in-law,  Sir  George  Hamilton, 
who  was  Governor  of  the  castle  of  Nenagh,  in  Tipperary,  for  King 
Charles. 

Military  affairs  at  this  time  were  also  beginning  to  be  no  more 
successful  than  his  matrimonial  speculation,  and  a  meeting  of  the 
northern  chiefs  was  held  at  Glasslough  to  consider  their  position.  The 


I48  SIR    IMIELIM    O'NEILL. 

weight  of  the  disciplined  forces  of  the  Scotch  and  English  had  made 
itself  felt  upon  the  loose  mob  of  which  the  Irish  army  was  composed, 
and  now,  at  the  end  of  their  resources,  despair  and  ruin  stared  them 
in  the  face.  They  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  their  cause  was 
hopeless,  and  their  only  refuge  the  Continent,  when  their  deliberations 
were  broken  in  upon  by  a  messenger  to  say  that  Owen  Roe  had  landed 
at  Doe  Castle,  in  County  Donegal.  This  news  immediately  put  a 
new  complexion  upon  the  state  of  affairs  ;  and  now  that  the  famous 
soldier,  whose  arrival  had  been  hoped  for,  but  not  expected,  had  once 
more  set  foot  on  his  native  land,  all  thoughts  of  exile  immediately 
gave  way  to  feelings  of  joy  and  relief.  An  escort  was  immediately  sent 
to  conduct  him  to  Charlemont,  and  on  the  29  August,  1642,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  nobility  and  leaders  of  the  northern  Irish,  Sir  Phelim 
resigned  his  position  as  General  of  the  Ulster  forces  in  favour  of 
Owen  Roe,  who  was  elected  in  his  stead  to  the  chief  command.  To 
a  man  of  the  vain,  aspiring  temperament  of  Sir  Phelim,  this  must 
have  been  a  galling  humiliation,  but  one  which  his  incapacity  as  a 
leader  had  rendered  inevitable,  however  the  meeting  might  try  to 
salve  his  wounded  vanity  by  the  honorary  appointment  of  President 
of  Ulster  and  the  command  of  a  regiment. 

Affairs  now  began  to  take  a  more  favourable  course  under  the  abler 
guidance  of  Owen  Roe;  and  Sir  Phelim,  evidently  of  the  opinion  that 
"  it  was  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone,"  again  turned  his  thoughts 
towards  matrimony.  On  going  South  with  part  of  the  Ulster  forces, 
he  met  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Preston,  "  a  Dutch  borne,"  as  she  is 
styled  by  the  author  of  The  Aphorismical  Discovery  ;  i.e.,  she  was  born 
in  the  Low  Countries  during  her  father's  term  of  service  there,  where 
he  won  distinction  as  a  general.  He  had  now  come  over  to  assist  his 
fellow-countrymen  ;  and  being  looked  upon  as  a  professional  rival  of 
Owen  Roe,  Sir  Phelim  evidently  thought  to  strengthen  his  position 

by  marrying Preston.1    According  to  Friar  O'Mellan,  the  dowry 

he  received  with  her  was  arms  for  500  horsemen,  200  muskets,  and 
3,000  pounds  :  no  despicable  fortune  in  such  troubled  times. 

The  year  1644  was  marked  by  the  capture  of  Sir  Phelim's 
mother,  Katherine  Hovenden,  by  the  British.  On  a  previous  raid 
in  the  summer  of  1642,  they  had  burned  his  house,  or  castle,  at 
Kinard,  with  all  his  plate.     There  was  continual  friction  and  jealousy 

1  James  Benn,  a  shoemaker,  of  Kilkenny,  in  a  deposition  sworn  3  July,  1643,  says  Sir  Phelim, 
with  his  lady,  came  to  Kilkenny,  out  of  the  North,  about  a  month  or  six  weeks  previously. 

Charity  Chappell  of  Armagh,  in  her  deposition,  mentions  a  Preston  as  son-in-law  to  Turlogh 
Oge  O'Neill,  so  that  very  possibly  Sir  Phelim  may  have  stood  in  the  relation  of  brother-in-law  and 
uncle  as  well  to  a  son  of  Thomas  Preston. 


SIR    PHELIM    O'NEILL.  149 

between  him  and  Owen  Roe,  whom  he  seems  to  have  hampered  and 
thwarted  as  far  as  possible.  The  Papal  Nuncio,  writing  to  Cardinal 
Pamphili,  in  June  1646,  says  that  he  has  been  successful  in  bringing 
about  a  reconciliation  ;  but  it  was  only  temporary,  and  could  not  have 
been  very  sincere  on  Sir  Phelim's  part,  as  he  appears  to  have  been  ready 
to  enter,  on  his  own  behalf,  into  intrigues  with  any  of  the  different 
parties  with  which  the  country  was  affected.  Sometime  also,  during 
these  years,  he  must  have  lost  his  second  wife,  the  daughter  of  General 
Preston,  as  about  1649  he  married  his  old  flame,  Lady  Strabane,  who 
was  by  this  time  freed  from  her  vow  of  celibacy,  and,  although  the 
Irish  cause  was  far  from  flourishing,  had  evidently  not  forgotten  her 
former  regard  for  Sir  Phelim  :  a  regard  that  was  seemingly  shared  by 
his  stepson,  Lord  Strabane,  who  assisted  him  to  defend  Charlemont 
when  besieged  by  Coote  and  Venables.  After  the  surrender  of  the 
fort,  Sir  Phelim  did  not  leave  the  country  as  stipulated  ;  but  when  all 
hope  of  resistance  had  come  to  an  end,  lurked  in  the  obscure  fast- 
nesses of  Tyrone.  It  was  in  one  of  these — an  island  in  Roughan 
Lough,  near  Stewartstown — that,  on  the  information  of  a  countryman, 
Sir  Phelim  was  captured  by  Lord  Charlemont  some  time  in  the  latter 
end  of  165 1. 

The  British  Officer  states  that  he  had  gone  there  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  correspond  with  his  lady,  who  was  a  prisoner  in 
Charlemont,  then  governed  by  Lord  Caulfield,  and  to  effect  her 
release.  By  her  he  had  a  son,  Gordon  (so  called  after  his  maternal 
grandfather,  the  Marquis  of  Huntly),  who  resided  in  or  near  Strabane, 
and  raised  the  Regiment  of  Charlemont  in  the  service  of  King  James, 
and  afterwards  attained  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier  in  the  service  of  France. 
His  mother,  after  losing  her  second  husband,  was  in  very  great  poverty, 
and  applied  to  the  Commonwealth  government  for  relief  in  1656. 

Sir  Phelim  was  examined  before  the  High  Court  of  Justice  on 
23rd  of  February,  1652/3  ;  put  on  trial  the  last  day  of  February  ;  and 
sentenced  on  March  5.  On  March  10  he  was  to  be  hanged,  drawn, 
and  quartered,  and  his  head  placed  on  the  gate  that  stood  at  the  place 
where  he  was  to  be  executed.  One  quarter  was  sent  to  be  put  up  in 
Lisnegarvey  (Lisburn),  as  a  memorial  of  his  burning  that  town  in 
November  1641  ;  another  quarter  was  set  up  in  Dundalk,  for  taking 
that  town  ;  another  quarter  in  Drogheda,  for  besieging  it  the  same 
winter  ;  while  the  fourth  quarter  was  to  be  set  up  in  Dublin,  along 
with  his  head,  as  being  a  chief  man  in  the  plot  to  capture  that  city  on 
the  night  of  the  23  October,  164 1. 


150 


SIR    PHELIM   O'NEILL. 


He  met  his  death  with  the  bravery  of  his  race,  faithful  to  a  faithless 
Stuart  king.  What  though  the  winds  of  Erin  may  have  blown  his 
ashes  o'er  the  land,  his  monument  is  in  the  memories  of  the  people 
that  gather  round  the  cottage  hearths  of  Ulster  and  still  rehearse  the 
deeds  of  P  he  limy  Roe. 

Pedigree  of  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill. 

Owen,  "The  O'Neill." 


Henry, 
married  Gormley  Kavanagh, 
daughter  of  MacMurrogh, 
King  of  Leinster. 


Con  More, 
married  Elinora,  or  Alice, 
daughter  of  the  Earl  of 
Kildare. 

I 
Con  Bacagh  (lame). 


Shane  the  Proud. 


Matthew, 
Baron  Dungannon. 

I 

Hugh, 

Earl  of  Tyrone. 


Shane. 

I 

Henry, 

married  the  daughter 

of  Con  Bacagh. 

I 
Sir  Henry  oge, 
married  the  daughter  of  Hugh, 
Earl  of  Tyrone. 

Turlogh, 

married  Katherine, 

daughter  of 

Henry  O'Neill  of  the  Fews. 

I 
Sir  Phelim  Roe, 

married — 
(i)  a  daughter  of  Sir  Arthur  Magennis,  by 
whom  he  had  a  son,  Art  (?)  ; 

(2)  a  daughter  of  General  Thomas  Preston, 

brother  of  Lord  Gormanstown  ; 

(3)  Lady    Jean    Gordon,    daughter    of    the 

Marquis  of  Huntly  and  widow 
of  Claude,  Lord  Strabane,  by 
whom  he  had  a  son,  Gordon 
O'Neill. 


[Four  Masters  ;  Cal.  S.P.,  I.  ;  Cal.  P.R.,  Jas.  I.  ;  O'Mellan's  Narrative  ;  Hist.  Cont.  Affairs, 
1641-52;  Polling's  Journal ;  Life  of  Ormonde  ;  Desid.  Cur.  Hib.  ;  Temple,  Borlase,  and  Warner's 
Hists.  ;  Cox's  Hib.  Ang.  ;  The  Warreof  Ireland  ;  Rinuccini's  Embassy;  Memorials  of  the  Dead; 
Ireland  in  the  17th  Century  ;  Ulster  Inquisitions  ;  Down  Survey,  &c.] 


ULSTER    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  I  5  I 


Ulster  Bibliography. 

By  John  S.  Crone. 


THROUGH  the  courtesy  of  the  Editor,  I  am  permitted  to  submit 
the  following  List  of  Books  relating  to  Derry,  chiefly  from 
my  own  collection,  as  in  some  measure  the  complement  of 
the  valuable  list  of  books  printed  in  Derry,  published  by  E.  R.  McC. 
Dix  in  this  Journal  in  July  1901.  I  do  so  in  the  hope  that,  together, 
they  may  form  the  foundation  of  a  complete  ULSTER  BIBLIOGRAPHY, 
so  much  to  be  desired.  Such  a  work  presents  many,  but  not  insuper- 
able, difficulties,  if  every  reader  or  collector  would  follow  the  example 
set  in  these  pages  by  Dix,  Latimer,  and  Campbell,  in  notifying 
the  existence  of  works  relating  to  the  province,  counties,  and  towns  ; 
trades,  customs,  and  traditions ;  biographies  of  celebrated  natives, 
etc.,  etc.,  they  may  have,  or  happen  upon.  I  purpose  dealing  next 
with  Antrim,  omitting  Belfast  up  till  1830,  John  Anderson's  work 
thereon  rendering  any  other  attempt  superfluous.  Needless  to  say, 
any  corrections,  additions,  or  suggestions  will  be  warmly  welcomed. 

DERRY. 

Newes  from  Lough-foyle  in  Ireland,  with  the  ransacking  and  burning  of  the 

Citie  of  Derry.     1608. 
Later  Newes  from  Ireland  with  the  cunning   and  deceitefull   surprising  of 

Captain  Hart.     1608.     (Hart  was  Governor  of  Culmore.) 
The  Major  and  Aldermen's  letter  of  London   Derry  to  Generall  Major 

Monroe.     1642.     4to. 
A  True  Relation  of  several  acts    ....     Capt  Robt  Lawson,  Sherriff  of 

Londonderry,  ....  since  ....  the  Rebellion  in  Ireland.     London  : 

1643.     4to.      15  pp. 
True  Copy  of  a  Letter  ....    from  Doe  Castle  ....    from  an  Irish 

Rebell,  &c.     London:   1643.     4to-     5  PP-     "The  League  of  the  Cap- 
tains." 
A  Relation  of  the  Twenty  Weeks'  Sikge  of  London  derry  by  Scotch  Irish 

and  disaffected  English.      1649.     4t0- 
A  Narrative  Panegyrical  of  the  Life  Sickness  and  Death  of  George  (Wild) 

Lord  Bishop  of  Derry.     Delivered  at  his  Funerals  (sic).      By  Robert 

Mossom  (his  successor).      London:   1665-6.     4to.      19  pp. 
An  Account  of  Prodidgious  Storms  of  Thunder  and  Lightning  near  London 

derry  on  Saturday  June  26th  1680.      London  :    1680. 


I52  ULSTER    BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

An  Answer  to  the  Considerations  which  obliged  Petkr  Manhy  late  Dean  of 

Derry  to  embrace    ....    the  Catholicke  Religion.     By  Wm.   King. 

Lond.  :    1687.     4to. 
A  True  and  Impartial  Account  of  the  most  Material  Passages  in  Ireland  since 

Dec.    1688,  with  a  particular  relation  of  the  Forces   of   Londonderry. 

Engraved  plan.      1689.     4to. 
An  Abstract  of  the  Case  of  the  City  of  London  derry.     (?  London  :   1689.) 

S.  sh.  fol. 
A  Journal  of  the  Siege  of  London  derry,  in  a  letter  from  an  officer  in  the 

town  dated  18th  May  1689.     London  :   1689.     S.  sh.  fol. 

Good  News  from  London  derry  in  Ireland,  being  a  full  and  true  relation 
of  a  great  and  signal  Victory  which  the  Protestants  there  have  most  hap- 
pily obtained  over  the  French  and  Irish-Papists  June  7th  1689. 

The  Case  of  the  City  of  London-Derry.  (?  London  :  1689.)  S.  sh.  fol. 
(A  petition  stating  services  and  praying  for  relief.) 

A  Sermon,  Being  an  Incouragement,  &c,  &c,  occasionally  on  the  Protestants 
Victory  over  the  French  and  Irish  Papists  before  London-Derry  in 
raising  that  Desperate  Siege  ....  By  Mr.  Walker  Minister,  and 
Governor  of  the  City.  4to.  1 1  pp.  Printed  at  London  and  re-printed 
at  Edinburgh,  1689. 

The  Christian  Champion,  or  a  Second  Discourse  to  the  Besieged  Protestant 
Soldiers  in  London-derry.      By  Rev.  G.  Walker.      London  :   1689. 

A  True  and  Impartial  Account  of  the  most  material  passages  in  Ireland  since 
December  1688;  with  a  particular  Relation  of  the  forces  of  London- 
derry.     1689.     (By  Capt.  Joseph  Bennett.) 

An  Abstract  of  Lieut  General  Hamilton's  Letter  to  the  Garrison  of  London- 
derry when  besieged.     (?  1689.)     S.  sh.  fol. 

Pertinent  Verhael  van  t  gene  gepasseret  is  int  onsetten  en  verlaten  van 
London  Derry.     (Amsterdam  :  ?  1689.)     4to. 

An  Account  of  the  most  remarkable  Occurrences  relating  to  London  derry, 
with  a  Relation  of  the  Signal  defeat  given  to  the  French  and  Irish  Papists 
May  5th  1689.     London  :   1689.     S.  sh.  fol. 

A  True  Account  of  the  SIEGE  of  London-Derry.  By  the  Reverend  Mr. 
George  Walker  Rector  of  Donogkmoorc  in  the  county  of  Tirone  and  late 
Governour  of  Derry  in  Ireland.  London:  1689.  4to.  59  pp. 
(Licensed  Sept.  13,  1689.) 

An  Apology  for  the  Failures  charg'd  on  the  Reverend  Mr.  George  Walker's 
Printed  ACCOUNT  of  the  late  Siege  of  Derry,  in  A  Letter  to  the 
Undertaker  of  a  more  Accurate  Narrative  of  that  Siege.  Printed  in  the 
year  1689.     4to.     27  pp. 

Reflections  on  a  paper  pretending  to  be  an  Apology  for  the  Failures  of 
Walker.     London  :   1689.     4to. 


ULSTER    BIBLIOGRAPHY.  I  53 

A  Vindication  of  the  True  Account  of  the  SIEGE  OF  DERRY  in 
Ireland.  By  Mr.  George  Walker,  &c.  Published  by  Authority. 
London  :   1689.     4to.      34  pp. 

A  True  Account  of  the  present  state  of  Ireland,  ....  with  the  state  of 
Derry  and  Enniskillkn.  By  a  person  that  with  great  difficulty  left 
Dublin  June  the  8th,  1689.  London:  1689.  4to.  36  pp.  (Contains 
a  letter  from  "  Colonel "  Walker,  giving  a  full  account  of  Lundy's 
treachery.) 

Sermon  preached  before  the  Garrison  of  London  derry  in  the  Extremity  of 
the  Siege  wherein  ....  By  the  Rev.  Mr.  Seth  Whittle  late  Rector 
of  Balliachie.     London  :   1690. 

A  Vindication  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Alexander  Osborn  in  reference  to  the 
affairs  of  the  North  of  Ireland  in  which  Some  Mistakes  concerning  him 
(in  the  Printed  Account  of  the  Siege  of  Derry  :  The  Observations  on  it, 
and  Mr.  Walker's  Vindication  of  it)  are  rectified  Written  at  Mr.  Osborn 's 
Request  by  his  Friend  Mr.  J.  Boyse.  Licens'd  Nov.  22  1689.  And 
Entred  according  to  Order.      London:    1690.     4to.      28  pp. 

A  Narrative  of  The  Siege  of  Londonderry  or  The  Late  Memorable 
Transactions   of  that    City,    Faithfully  represented    ....    by   John 

MacKenzie With  allowance.     London  :    Printed  for  the 

Author.      1690.     4to. 

Mr.  J.  MacKenzie 's  Narrative  of  the  Siege  of  London-derry  a  false  libel : 
in  defence  of   Dr.   G.   Walker.      Written    by  his  friend    in   his  absence 
.  (i.e.,  J.  W.  Clark).     London  :   1690.     4to. 

Dr.  Walker's  INVISIBLE  Champion  Foyled  :  or  an  Appendix  to  the  late 
Narrative  of  the  Siege  of  Derry.  By  John  MacKenzie  Publisher  of  the 
said  Narrative.      London  :    1690.     4to. 

A  Discourse  Concerning  the  Inventions  of  Men  in  the  Worship  of  God. 
By  Wm.  (King)  Bishop  of  Derry.     London:   1694.      121110. 

Remarks  on  a  late  Discourse  of  William  (King)  Lord  Bishop  of  Derry 
concerning  the  inventions  of  men  in  the  worship  of  God.  By  Joseph 
Boyse.     London  :   1694.      191  pp. 

An  Answer  to  a  Discourse  Concerning  the  Inventions  of  Men  &c  By  William 
(King)  Lord  Bishop  of  Derry.  By  Robert  Craghead.  Edinburgh  : 
1694.    4to.     160  pp.    Dedicated  to  James  Lennox,  Esq.,  Mayor  of  Derry. 

An  Admonition  to  the  Dissenting  Inhabitants  of  the  Diocese  of  Derry 
Concerning  a  Book  by  Mr.  J.  Boyse.  By  Wm.  (King)  Bishop  of  Derry. 
London  :   1694.      8vo. 

A  Vindication  of  the  Remarks  on  the  Bishop  of  Derry's  Discourse.  By 
J.  Boyse.      1695.      121110. 

A  Second  Admonition  to  the  Dissenting  Inhabitants  of  the  Diocese  of 
DERRY,  concerning  Mr.  J.  Boyse  his  Vindication,  &c,  &c.  By  William 
[King]  Lord  Bishop  of  DERRY.      Dublin:    1695.     4to.     61  pp. 


154  ULSTER    BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

An  Answer  to  the  Bishop  of  Derry's  Second  Admonition  to  the  Dissent- 
ing Inhabitants  in  his  Diocese.  By  Robt.  Craghead.  1697.  4to. 
xii  +  166  pp. 

[Reverse.  Dedicated  to  "The  Right  Worshipful  the  Mayor,  the  Aldermen 
and  Burgesses  of  the  City  of  Londonderry  and  of  the  Presbyterian 
Persuasion."] 

Londerias  :  or  a  Narrative   of   the   Siege   of    Londonderry  :    written 

in  verse  by  Joseph  Aickin.      Dublin:    Printed  by  J.  B.  and  S.  P 

in  Skinner  Row  for  the  Author,  and  sold  by  him  at  his  school  near  Essex 
Bridge  ....      1699.     8vo. 

A  Short  View  of  the  Faithful  Service  performed  by  His  Majesty's  Forces 
who  defended  the  City  of  London  Derry  against  &c,  &c,  in  the  Siege  of 
1688-9.      1700. 

Hopkins' (Ezekiel,  Bishop  of  Londonderry)  Works;  portrait.      1701.      Folio. 

A  Memorial  by  William  Hamill,  Gent,  agent  and  trustee  for  the  officers 
and  soldiers  of  the  two  late  garrisons  of  Londonderry  and  Lnniskiiling. 
....   London:   17 14.     8vo.     40pp. 

Divine  Providence  ....  Two  Sermons  preached  in  Londonderry  Deer.  8, 
1 714  ...  .      By  James  Blair,  a.m.     Belfast:   1715.     4to.     47  pp. 

A  View  of  the  Danger  and  Folly  of  being  Public-spirited  ....  in  the 
deplorable  case  of  the  Londonderry  and  lnniskiiling  regiments ;  .  .  .  . 
To  which  is  added  the  particular  case  of  William  Hamill,  gent.,  their 
agent.     London:   1721.     4to.     74  pp. 

Pax  i?itra  Par  tes,  or  Union  resolved  ....     By  the  Synod  of  Derry.     Dublin: 

1723.  i2mo.     8  pp. 

Sermon  Preached  at  Londonderry  June  24th,  1722,  by  Joseph  Boyse. 
Dublin  :   1723.     23  pp. 

The  Irish  Historical  Library,  Pointing  at  most  of  the  Authors  and  Records  in 
Print  or  Manuscript  ....  By  William  (Nicholson)  Lord  Bishop  of 
Derry.  Dublin:  1724.  xxxviii  +  248  +  10  pp.  The  First  Irish  Bibliog- 
raphy. 

A  Seasonable  Warning  from  the  Synod  of  Londonderry  met  May  12th, 

1724.  (?  Derry)  1724.      i2mo.      12  pp. 

The  Dean  of  Coleraine,  founded  on  the  Memoirs  of  an  Illustrious 

Family  in  Ireland.      1752.     3  vols.     i2mo. 

A  Persuasive  to  learn  Righteousness  ....  A  Sermon  preached  at  Coleraine 
6th  Feby.,  1756,  being  a  Fast  ....  on  account  of  the  Earthquake  at 
Lisbon.     Belfast:   1756.     32  pp. 

Londonderry  Journal,  and  Donegal  and  Tyrone  Advertiser.  Derry  :  1772. 
Folio.  (Established  in  June  of  that  year,  by  Geo.  Douglas  ("  Derriana"), 
who  edited  it  until  1796,  when  it  was  taken  over  by  John  Buchanan  and 
Wm,  McCorkell.      In  progress.) 


ULSTER   BIBLIOGRAPHY.  I  55 

Sermon  preached  in  the  Cathedral  Church  Londonderry  Sept.  13th,  1772. 
By  Thomas  Barnard,  Dean.     Londonderry':   1772.    4to.     22  pp. 

The  Charter-Party  of  the  Equitable  Annuity  Company  of  the  City  of 
Londonderry.     Londonderry:   1783.     8vo.     2  +  42  pp. 

Sermon  preached  on  the  nth  of  Feb.,  1787,  on  .  .  .  .  the  death  of  Rev. 
Andrew  Ferguson  ...  of  Burt.  By  Andrew  Alexander.  London- 
derry :   1787.      umo.     30  pp. 

Letters  of  Thomas  Rundle,  late  Bishop  of  Derry.      1789. 

The  Poliorciad,  or  Poems  on  the  Siege.     Derry  :   1789.      8vo.     4+70  pp. 

Sermon  preached  at  Aghadowey  July  1788  on  the  death  of  Rev.  Samuel 

Hamilton.      The    Rev.  James    Elder.     Londonderry:   1789.       i2mo. 

24  pp. 
A  Circumstantial  Account  of  the  Siege  of  Londonderry  from  a  MS.  written 

on  the  spot  and  at  the  time.     Captain  Thomas  Ash.      Londonderry  : 

1792.     i6mo.     64  pp. 
The  Siege  of  Derry.     A  poem.     By  Rev.  George  Alley.     Dublin  :  1792. 

8vo. 
Sermon  preached  in  Cathedral  of  St.  Columb's,  19th  April  1793.     Rev.  John 

Hume,  Dean  of  Derry.     Derry:   1793.     8vo.     28  pp. 

Translation  of  the  Charter  granted  by  King  Charles  II.  to  the  Mayor  and 
Citizens  of  Londonderry.     London:   1793.     4+ 108  pp. 

Derriana — a  collection  of  Papers. relative  to  the  Siege  of  Derry,  and  illus- 
trative of  the  Revolution  of  1688.  By  George  Douglas.  Londonderry  : 
1794. 

Sermon  preached  in  Cathedral  Church  of  St.  Columb,  16th  Febry.  Rev. 
John  Hume.     Derry:   1797.      121110.     26pp. 

Statistical  Survey  of  the  County  of  London-derry.  By  Rev.  Geo.  V. 
Sampson.      Dublin  :   1802.     8vo. 

Narrative  of  a  Journey  to  the  North  of  Ireland  in  the  year  1802.  By  Robert 
Slade,  Esqr.,  Secretary  to  the  Irish  Society.     London  :   1803.     8vo. 

Observations  on  the  Climate  of  Ireland,  with  thoughts  on  some  Branches 
of  Rural  Economy.  By  William  Patterson,  m.d.,  Physician  in  London- 
derry.     (The  founder  of  the  Infirmary.)      1804.     8vo. 

A  Tour  of  a  few  Days  to  Londonderry  and  the  Giant's  Causeway. 
By  Rev.  Samuel  Burdy.     Dublin  :   1807. 

Memoirs  of  William  Sampson,  including  his  Adventures,  ....  his  con- 
finement in  the  Dungeons  of  the  Inquisition  in  Lisbon,  &c,  &c.  New 
York:  1807.  8vo.  xii  +  448  pp.  (Counsellor  Sampson  of  '98,  a 
native  of  Derry.) 

The  Londonderry  Reporter.  Existed  from  January  11,  1810,  until 
August  7,  181 1.  Derry.  Folio.  Printed  and  published  by  Samuel 
Boyd. 


156  ULSTER    BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Substance  of  Two  Speeches  delivered  at  the  Meeting  of  Synod  18 12  by 
Robert  Black,  D.D.,  of  Derry.      Dublin  :   1812.     8vo.     80  pp. 

A  Memoir  explanatory  of  the  Chart  and  Survey  of  the  County  of 
Londonderry,  Ireland.  By  the  Rev.  George  Vaughan  Sampson, 
A.ii.,  m.r.i.a.      London:   1814.     4to.     xx  -  359. 

Report  of  the  Irish  Society  respecting  their  Charter.    London:  1815.    8vo. 

Letter  to  the  Synod  of  Ulster,  including  Report  of  a  Trial  which  took 
place  at  Londonderry,  14th  Aug.  181 7.  By  Thomas  Campbell,  a.m. 
Dublin:   181 7.     8vo.      96  pp. 

A  Concise  View  of  the  Origin,  Constitution  and  Proceedings  of  the  Honour- 
able Society  of  the  Governors  and  Assistants  of  London  of  the  New 
Plantation  in  Ulster,  commonly  called  The  Irish  Society.  Compiled 
principally  from  their  Records.  London:  1822.  8vo.  xiii  -  189  -  ccxlvi. 
Another  edition,  1842. 

Derriana.  Consisting  of  a  History  of  the  Siege  of  Londonderry  and  Defence 
of  Enniskillen  in  1688  and  1689.  By  the  Rev.  John  Graham,  m.a., 
Curate  of  Lifford.     Londonderry:   1823.     8vo.     iv  +  164  pp. 

Historical  Poetry  with  Biographical  Notes.  By  the  Rev.  John  Graham, 
m.a.     Londonderry  :   1823.     8vo.      102  pp. 

Revised  History  of  the  Siege  of   Londonderry.     Gillespie.     Derry  : 

1823. 

Poems  on  Different  Subjects  By  Thomas  Ferryer.  Londonderry  :  William 
McCorkell,  13,  Diamond.      1823. 

The  Beautiful  Queen  of  Judea  :  a  Tragedy.  By  Thomas  Ferryer.  Derry: 
William  McCorkell.      1823. 

The  North  West  of  Ireland  Society  Magazine.  Derry.  4to.  (Commenced 
November  1822,  ended  May  1825.) 

Narrative  of  an  Excursion  to  Ireland,  by  the  Deputy  Governor,  two 
Members  of  the  Court,  and  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Honourable 
Irish  Society  of  London,  1825.  By  the  Deputy  Governor.  London  : 
1825.      Frontispiece.     Sm.  4to. 

A  Sermon  preached  in  ...  .  Drumachose  13th  Jany.,  1828.  By  James 
Elder.     Derry:   1828.     8vo.     39  pp. 

Notes  of  a  Journey  in  the  North  of  Ireland  in  the  Summer  of  1827.  To 
which  is  added  a  Brief  Account  of  the  Siege  of  Londonderry  in  1689. 
London:  1828.  i2mo.  viii  -  185  pp.  (According  to  a  MS.  note, 
this  was  written  by  Mrs.  John  Jackson  of  Louth,  Lincolnshire,  the  wife  of 
the  printer  of  the  Tennysons'  "  Poems  by  Two  Brothers.") 

Authenticated  Report  of  the  Discussion  between  Six  Roman  Catholic 
Priests  and  Six  Clergymen  of  the  Established  Church  in  the  Diocese 
of  Derry,  March  1828.  (Reporters  :  F.  Campbell  and  W.  Wallen.) 
Dublin:   1828.     8vo.     "  The  Derry  Discussion." 

(To  be  continued. ) 


AN    IRISH    BISHOPS    CRAVE. 


157 


An  Irish  Bishop's  Grave* 

By  William  J.  Fun n ell,  m.r.i.a.l 


WE  publish  in  this  number  an  illustration  of  the  memorial 
erected  over  the  last  resting-place  of  the  late  Most  Rev.  Dr. 
MacAllister,  Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor,  in  the  Catholic 
churchyard  at  Ballycastle.  To  find,  even  in  an  Irish  graveyard,  a 
tomb  like  this,  designed  in  the  spirit  of  our  national  ornament,  with 
all  the  quiet  repose  and  dignity  that  are  associated  with  it,  is  to 
feel  a  sense  of  gratitude  that  there  still  exists  a  desire  to  follow  a 


CELTIC    MONUMENT   TO    THE    MOST    REV.    UK.   MACALLISTER, 
BISHOP   OF    DOWN    AND   CONNOR. 


line  of  art  distinctly  our  own.  We  see  no  reason  why  every  memorial 
stone  in  "  God's  acre  "  of  Irish  ground  should  not  receive  its  decora- 
tion from  the  Celtic  school,  which  lends  itself  with  ease  to  the  colossal 
monolith  or  to  the  humble  diminutive  slab,  such  as  bore  the  original 
cross  that  has  been  thought  worthy  of  being  reproduced  on  the  great 
stone  now  over  St.  Patrick's  grave.  We  often  hear  it  said  that  the 
initial  idea  of  the  interlacing  came  either  from  cultured  schools  of 
the  far  south  or  from  the  rude  attempts  of  the  distant  north,  where, 
in  a  fitful  way,  some  few  fragments  may  occasionally  come  to  light ; 
but  the  fact  remains  that  the  art,  as  nourished  in  the  early  Church 


I  58       SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,    LORD    DEPUTY   OF    IRELAND. 

in  Ireland,  expanded  and  developed  to  its  fullest  perfection,  and  took 
and  maintained  its  place  as  the  distinctive  decoration  of  the  nation. 
So  great  was  the  power  that  wielded  it,  that  its  beauty  is  found  in 
stone,  gold,  bronze,  and  in  marvellous  illuminations  of  the  early- 
monks — works  of  the  pen  which  no  nation  has  ever  equalled.  The 
great  stone  monuments  of  that  age,  in  this  island  of  Celtic  artists, 
were  mostly  erected  over  bishops  ;  and  it  is  only  right  and  fitting 
that  the  grave  of  an  Irish  bishop  in  this  century  should  receive  the 
same  artistic  tribute  as  those  of  his  early  Church.  This  monument 
stands  out  in  bold  relief  to  the  neglected  grave  of  the  prelate  who 
sleeps  "  where  the  thistles  blow"  in  Bun-na-Margie  Abbey.  It  was 
erected  by  Dr.  MacAllister's  successor,  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Henry,  and 
was  designed  by  the  Very  Rev.  John  Conway,  P.P.V.F.,  late  Parish 
Priest  of  Ballycastle,  now  of  Larne.  The  carving  and  ornamentation 
were  executed  on  the  spot  by  Daniel  O'Connell  Gilliland,  artist  and 
sculptor,  Belfast. 


Sir  Arthur  Chichestert  Lord  Deputy  of 

Ireland* 

With  some  Notes  on  the  Plantation  of  Ulster. 
By  Francis  Joseph  Bigger,  m.r.i.a. 

(  Continued  from  page  112.) 

HE  first  or  earliest  news  of  the  Earls'  flight  was  brought  to 
Chichester  at  Dublin  Castle  by  Sir  Cormac  O'Neill,  a  younger 
brother  of  the  Earl  of  Tyrone.  This  knight  resided  in  Augher 
Castle,  Tyrone,  and  had  always  lived  on  the  best  and  most  peaceable 
terms  with  the  Government  since  his  surrender  and  restoration  to  his 
estates  in  1602.  He  naturally  felt  much  excited  by  his  brother's 
sudden  departure  ;  and  under  the  impression  that  he  would  return 
in  due  time  to  explain  his  apparently  unaccountable  movement,  Sir 
Cormac  rode  in  hot  haste  to  Dublin  to  inform  the  Government  officials 


T 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,    LORD   DEPUTY   OF    IRELAND.       1 59 

there  of  the  fact,  and  to  request  that  he  be  a  custodian  of  his  brother's 
lands  and  premises  until  the  latter's  return.  This  request  on  the  part 
of  Sir  Cormac  is  proof  positive  not  only  of  the  knight's  sincerity  in 
the  business,  but  also  of  his  sheer  simplicity.  A  custodian,  indeed  ! 
Not  exactly.  Sir  Cormac  may  have  known  more  about  the  whole 
affair  than  what  then  appeared  ;  and  as  Sir  Cormac  himself  was  the 
owner  of  very  extensive  and  desirable  lands  in  the  barony  of  Omagh, 
the  astute  Lord  Deputy  thought  that  the  wiser  and  better  course 
would  be  to  hold  Sir  Cormac  as  a  prisoner  instead  of  thanking  him 
for  his  prompt  supply  of  information.  Accordingly,  the  knight  of 
Augher  was  captured  then  and  there,  and  lodged  in  one  of  the  dun- 
geons connected  with  the  castle  until  Chichester  should  have  time  to 
think  the  matter  calmly  over.  Davys,  who  always  stood  at  his  master's 
elbow  on  such  occasions,  wrote  a  facetious  account  of  this  transaction 
to  an  English  friend.  "  Sir  Cormac  wished,"  said  Davys,  "  to  be 
appointed  custodian  of  the  Earl's  estates  ;  but  instead  of  granting  him 
this  privilege,  we  took  a  custodian  of  the  knight  himself" — took  him 
into  custody.  Two  years  later,  and  whilst  Sir  Cormac  was  still  a 
prisoner  in  Dublin,  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  Winch,  when  accompany- 
ing Chichester  on  one  of  his  plantation  rambles,  became  unwell  in 
Fermanagh,  and  had  to  be  sent  to  Castle-Blaney  to  recuperate.  When 
passing  near  Augher  Castle,  Winch  and  his  attendants  were  obliged 
to  call  ;  but  Lady  Cormac  O'Neill  had  then  become  so  destitute  as  to 
be  unable  to  afford  them  any  accommodation,  beyond  the  shelter 
of  her  roof,  and  the  privilege  to  slaughter  and  cook  for  themselves  two 
sheep  of  her  small  remaining  flock.  This  lady  was  a  sister  of  the 
celebrated  Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell. 

The  prison  doors  had  hardly  closed  on  Sir  Cormac  O'Neill  in 
1607,  when  another  and  even  more  important  case  presented  itself  for 
Chichester's  astute  decision.  When  the  two  Earls  with  their  little 
company  passed  near  Limavady,  the  residence  of  Sir  Donnell  Ballagh 
O'Cahan,  on  their  way  to  Lough  Swilly,  it  was  reported  that  the  latter 
had  rushed  out  frantically  to  follow  them,  and  was  only  prevented 
going  with  them  into  voluntary  exile  by  an  accidental  delay  in  cross- 
ing some  ferry  on  the  road.  This  impulsive  movement  on  O'Cahan's 
part  told  very  significantly  against  him  in  the  mind  of  the  Lord 
Deputy,  for  it  proved  how  deeply  he  (O'Cahan)  sympathized  with  the 
fugitives,  and  therefore  how  treasonably  he  would  have  acted  in  joining 
them  in  their  flight.  Besides,  Sir  Donnell  had  become  troublesome, 
and  almost  unmanageable  of  late,  so,  everything  considered,  it  was 


l6o       SIR    ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,    LORD    DEPUTY    OF    IRELAND. 

thought  best  to  take  him  also  into  special  keeping  at  Dublin  Castle. 
This  was  even  a  more  flagitious  case  on  the  part  of  Chichester  than 
that  of  Sir  Cormac  O'Neill  ;  but,  to  be  sure,  it  held  out  greater  tempta- 
tions to  the  Deputy,  for  there  were  here  much  more  extensive  lands 
to  be  added  to  the  field  for  plantation.  Sir  Donnell  Ballagh  O'Cahan 
was  the  last  of  a  long  line  of  chieftains  who  held  the  country  from  the 
Bann  westward  to  the  Foyle,  but  always  subject  to  the  O'Neills  of  the 
Tyrone  principality.  Although  Sir  Donnell  was  one  of  the  Earl  of 
Tyrone's  numerous  sons-in-law,  and  had  supported  him  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  seven  years'  conflict  with  the  Government,  he 
(O'Cahan)  deserted  his  standard,  and  united  his  forces  with  those  of 
Sir  Henry  Docwra,  on  condition  that  the  Queen  would  give  him  such 
a  crown  grant  of  his  lands  as  would  free  him  from  all  vassalage  or 
subjection  to  the  Earl  of  Tyrone.  This  condition  was  readily  granted, 
and  the  royal  promise  solemnly  given— for  O'Cahan's  desertion  led 
directly  to  O'Neill's  surrender.  But  although  Sir  Henry  Docwra 
honourably  maintained  O'Cahan's  right  to  have  this  arrangement 
carried  out,  after  the  Queen's  death  it  vvas  utterly  repudiated  by  Chi- 
chester's advice.  This  great  act  of  injustice  drove  O'Cahan  almost 
frantic,  and  being  of  a  rough,  impulsive  nature,  he  was  not  slow  in 
telling  the  authorities  his  mind.  When  taken  prisoner,  he  vvas  to  be 
tried  for  treasonable  words,  and  even  for  overt  acts  of  treason,  but  he 
was  never  tried — only  in  the  meantime  kept  carefully  out  of  the  way. 
But  Oireacht  O'CatJiainn,  or  "  O'Cahan's  country,"  knew  him  no  more 
for  ever  ;  and  there  are  the  most  lamentable  stories  still  traditionally 
told  and  believed  at  Limavady  of  Lady  O'Cahan's  subsequent  desti- 
tution and  insanity.  At  all  events,  the  ill  fame  or  bad  name  created 
by  this  flagrant  violation  of  public  faith,  as  well  as  of  private  right,  had 
the  effect  of  preventing  any  planters  from  venturing,  individually  or 
without  associates,  into  O'Cahan's  country  ;  and  it  required  all  the 
ingenuity  of  Chichester  to  induce  certain  Londoners  to  undertake  the 
possession  thereof  in  large  companies. 

No  sooner  had  Donnell  O'Cahan  disappeared  from  the  scene  than 
another  victim  came  forward,  in  the  person  of  Sir  Neale  Garve  O'Don- 
nell,  to  make  his  claim  and  meet  with  a  similar  doom.  Sir  Neal  was 
a  cousin  of  Rorie,  the  Earl  of  Tyrconnell,  and  had  married  Nuala 
O'Donnell,  the  Earl's  sister  ;  but  being  of  an  older  branch,  Sir  Neal 
claimed  to  be  the  rightful  heir  to  the  chieftaincy  of  Tyrconnell,  and 
was  induced  to  believe  that,  by  uniting  his  forces  with  those  of  the 
Government,  he  would  be  able  to  supplant   Rorie,  who  had  been  the 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,    LORD    DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.       l6l 

choice  of  the  clan.  He  (Neal)  thereupon  fought  against  his  own  people 
throughout  the  whole  progress  of  the  seven  years'  war,  but  found  at 
the  end  that  his  wife  had  deserted  him,  and  that  his  professing  friends 
took  only  the  slightest  notice  of  his  existence.  When  Rorie,  however, 
who  had  been  made  an  Earl  by  the  Government,  notwithstanding  his 
previous  opposition,  had  taken  flight  with  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  Sir  Neal 
expected  that  his  rightful  claim  would  certainly  be  allowed.  But  not 
so  ;  the  lands  of  "  green  Tyrconnell  "  were  wanted  for  the  planters,  and 
as  Sir  Neal  had  shown  himself  more  than  once  to  be  a  fanatical  and 
dangerous  sort  of  man,  it  was  deemed  better  to  imprison  him  than 
permit  him  any  longer  to  obstruct  the  progress  of  plantation.  His 
noble  wife  had  already  gone  into  exile  with  her  brother,  Earl  Rorie 
O'Donnell,  whose  death-bed  in  a  foreign  land  soon  required  her  sisterly 
affection.  Her  sorrow,  after  his  death,  has  been  touchingly  recorded 
by  the  bard  of  the  O'Donnells,  in  the  fine  elegy  commencing 
"  O  woman  of  the  piercing  wail." 

Next  came  Sir  Cahir  O'Dougherty,  the  last  of  a  long  line  of  chief- 
tains, who  held  an  important  section  of  Tyrconnell  lying  between 
Lough  Foyle  and  Lough  Swilly,  and  named  Inisowen.  This  youthful 
chief  had  quarrelled  with  the  leading  men  of  his  own  clan  because  they 
had  appointed  an  older  and  more  experienced  person  to  bear  the  brunt 
of  the  severe  service  then  required.  Young  O'Dougherty  was  advised 
under  the  circumstances  by  certain  personal  friends  to  offer  his  ser- 
vices to  Sir  Henry  Docwra,  who  had  just  arrived  in  Lough  Foyle  at 
the  head  of  a  formidable  English  expedition.  O'Dougherty's  service 
was  gladly  accepted,  and  as  Docwra  soon  came  to  like  him  personally, 
he  got  every  facility  for  good  military  training.  He  thus  soon  became 
a  distinguished  officer  in  the  English  army  of  the  Foyle,  thinking  all 
the  while,  no  doubt,  that,  as  he  was  fighting  so  freely  against  his  own 
countrymen,  and  as  he  had  even  consented  to  act  as  foreman  of  the 
jury  during  the  mock  trial  at  Strabane  of  the  two  fugitive  Earls,  his 
own  lands  would  be  restored  to  him  intact  when  he  could  find  it  con- 
venient to  resume  possession.  A  closer  look  into  the  position  of 
affairs  showed  O'Dougherty  that  the  choicest  part  of  Inisowen  had 
been  already  occupied  by  an  English  adventurer  ;  and  although  the 
King  ordered  it  to  be  restored  to  him,  it  was  not  restored  in  time  to 
save  the  ill-fated  owner  from  ruin.  O'Dougherty's  remonstrances  with 
the  Government  on  this  great  wrong  naturally  became  very  urgent 
and  outspoken — more  so,  indeed,  than  the  high  officials  could  easily 
brook — and  probably  as  a  sort  of  foil  or  defence  for  himself,  under  the 
L 


l62       SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,    LORD    DEPUTY   OF    IRELAND. 

circumstances,  Chichester  had  secured  the  appointment  of  a  person 
named  Paulet  as  Governor  of  Derry.  This  Paulet  was  a  passionate 
man,  and  at  an  interview  with  O'Dougherty  he  actually  struck  him 
an  insulting  blow.  This  act  put  an  end  to  further  remonstrances;  and 
to  revenge  it  and  other  grievances  almost  as  galling,  O'Dougherty 
hastily  collected  such  a  following  as  he  could,  and  appealed  to  the 
arbitrament  of  the  sword.  This  rash,  and  indeed  hopeless,  movement 
was  just  what  Chichester,  Paulet,  and  some  other  English  servitors 
desired,  and  to  which  they  had  been  deliberately  goading  O'Dougherty 
for  many  months.  Chichester  had  General  Wingfield  at  the  head  of 
a  well-disciplined  army  in  readiness  to  let  slip  on  O'Dougherty  at  a 
moment's  notice  ;  but  withal,  the  latter  had  time  to  march  on  the  new 
English-built  city  of  Derry,  to  destroy  all  its  English  inhabitants,  and 
have  Paulet  dragged  from  his  hiding-place  and  slain  in  a  wild  fury  of 
revenge.  But  whilst  this  killing  of  Paulet  was  supposed  to  avenge  the 
blow  that  he  had  dealt  with  his  fist  on  O'Dougherty's  face,  it  had  the 
effect  also  of  greatly  and  directly  contributing  to  Chichester's  aggran- 
disement; for  had  Paulet  survived  O'Dougherty's  defeat  and  death,  he 
would  have  proved  the  deputy's  most  formidable  rival  in  the  scramble 
for  the  possession  of  the  Irish  chieftain's  lands.  Two  or  three  other 
rivals  soon  turned  up,  but  Chichester  knew  better  than  any  of  them 
how  and  when  to  forward  his  application  to  the  King  and  council;  and 
what  was  even  more  to  the  point,  he  had  early  secured  in  London 
exactly  the  sort  of  agents  required  to  do  his  work.  He  soon,  there- 
fore, had  his  reward  in  the  shape  of  a  crown  grant  of  the  entire  great 
barony  of  Inisowen,  of  about  thirty  miles  in  length,  and  upwards  of 
twelve  broad,  reaching  from  Derry  to  Malin  Head,  and  then  containing 
no  fewer  than  fourteen  well-built  castles  of  stone  and  lime,  the  resi- 
dences of  the  leading  members  of  the  once  numerous  and  powerful 
clan  of  O'Dougherty.  Chichester  had  wished  for  a  great  barony,  and  to 
be  known  as  a  great  baron,  and  now  had  his  wishes  gratified  as  the 
reward  of  his  superior  management,  whilst  a  fortunate  wood-kerne 
made  something  handsome  for  himself  by  carrying  O'Dougherty's 
head  to  Dublin  Castle,  where  Chichester  had  it  spiked  on  the  Birming- 
ham tower.  This  was  how  the  Chichesters  came  to  lord  it  in  Inisowen. 
And  now  comes  the  last  of  the  English-made  Ulster  knights  to  be 
disposed  of  by  the  great  Deputy.  This  was  old  Sir  Oghy  O'Hanlon, 
who  had  always,  and  whose  ancestors  had  generally  fought  on  the  side 
of  the  English.  But  he  owned  the  barony  of  Orier,  in  the  county  of 
Armagh,  a    barony  which    formed  a  most  desirable  addition  to  the 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD    DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.       1 63 

plantation  lands;  and  it  so  happened  that  the  owner,  notwithstanding 
his  invariable  sympathy  with  and  support  of  English  interests,  found 
himself  entangled  in  Chichester's  net.  His  eldest  son  and  heir,  known 
as  Oghie  Oge,  had  married  a  sister  of  Sir  Cahir  O'Dougherty,  and  had 
joined  that  chieftain  during  his  insurrection  in  the  spring  of  1608. 
After  the  fall  of  the  latter,  nothing  remained  for  Oghie  Oge,  and  several 
others  similarly  circumstanced  belonging  to  Armagh,  but  to  live  in 
the  extensive  woods  then  covering  very  large  tracts  of  that  county. 
Young  O'Hanlon's  wife  accompanied  him,  seeking  occasional  shelter 
in  the  old  family  mansion  of  Ballymore  (now  known  as  Tanderagee), 
but  she  was  eventually  found  dead  in  the  woods  after  having  given 
birth  to  a  child.  Her  husband  was  known  to  have  received  protection 
for  at  least  one  night  under  his  father's  roof,  and  this  was  held  to  be 
an  offence  under  the  circumstances  quite  serious  enough  to  compromise 
the  then  very  infirm  old  chieftain.  After  getting  the  son  banished  to 
Sweden,  Chichester  set  aside  the  barony  to  be  escheated  in  due  time, 
and  ordered  a  pension  of  £80  per  annum  to  be  paid  to  the  owner, 
during  his  life.  But  the  old  chief  did  not  live  to  receive  even  the  first 
instalment  of  this  sum — his  son's  misfortunes  and  Chichester's  treat- 
ment having  brought  down  his  grey  hair  with  sorrow  to  the  grave. 

From  the  county  of  Fermanagh,  Cuconacht  Maguire,  the  head 
chieftain,  wisely  went  into  voluntary  exile,  and  died  peacefully  soon 
after  his  arrival  at  Genoa.  The  Government  of  Elizabeth  had  set  up 
as  his  rival  his  cousin  Connor  Roe  Maguire,  who  was  known  as  the 
"  Queen's  Maguire,"  and  who  was  promised  three  baronies  in  Fer- 
managh at  the  ending  of  the  war.  He  only  got  one  very  small  barony, 
however,  and  not  even  as  a  crown  grant,  but  only  on  the  conditions 
that  all  other  planters  were  bound  to  observe.  But  by  the  time  he  had 
got  all  his  controversies  settled  with  Chichester,  it  was  found  that  Lord 
Balfour,  an  influential  Scottish  planter,  had  got  into  Connor  Roe's 
castle  of  Lisnaskea,  with  its  adjoining  demesne  lands,  and  he  (the 
"  Queen's  Maguire  ")  being  unable  to  have  him  removed,  was  compelled 
to  submit  to  this  additional  loss  and  humiliation. 

Myles  O'Reilly,  the  heir  to  the  chieftaincy  in  the  county  of  Cavan, 
was  a  minor  in  1608;  but  although  his  grandfather,  Sir  John  O'Reilly, 
had  fallen  fighting  on  the  English  side  at  the  battle  of  the  Yellow 
Ford  on  the  Blackwater,  and  although  Myles's  mother  was  a  lady  of 
the  Ormonde  family,  the  young  O'Reilly  got  only  a  very  limited 
portion  of  his  own  broad  lands  in  the  plantation  scramble,  and  he  had 
to  accept  even  his  small  allowance  on  the  usual  plantation  conditions. 


164       SIR    ARTHUR    CHICHESTER,    LORD    DEPUTY    OF   IRELAND. 

The  whole  county  of  Cavan,  from  its  position  in  Ulster,  recommended 
itself  as  a  very  desirable  addition  to  the  field  for  plantation  ;  but  as 
it  literally  swarmed  with  native  inhabitants,  Chichester  feared  that  it 
might  be  more  difficult  to  plant  than  any  of  the  other  counties,  and  he 
therefore  wanted  to  show  his  vigour  and  impartiality  in  thus  dealing 
with  a  claimant  of  the  highest  rank  ;  for  the  same  reason,  he  personally 
commenced  in  Cavan  the  work  of  turning  out  the  native  population 
and  giving  the  planters  possession  of  their  houses  and  lands.  The 
very  first  planter  in  Ulster  who  thus  got  his  patent  was  a  person  named 
Taylor,  who  is  now  represented  by  the  Marquis  of  Headfort. 

One  of  Chichester's  most  characteristic  acts  was  the  method  by 
which  he  plotted  the  destruction  of  the  gallant  Bryan  MacArt  O'Neill. 
This  Irish  leader,  during  the  war  of  the  northern  lords  against  the 
English,  became  exceedingly  popular  and  influential  with  the  native 
inhabitants  of  Ulster — so  much  so,  indeed,  that  it  was  feared  by  all 
Government  officials  he  would  be  proclaimed  as  the  O'Neill  in  the 
event  of  anything  occurring  to  remove  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  or  even 
sooner.  This  formidable  opponent  was  the  eldest  son  of  Art  MacBaron 
O'Neill,  and  the  eldest  brother  of  Owen  Roe  O'Neill,  afterwards  so 
celebrated  as  victor  at  the  battle  of  Benburb,  where  he  inflicted  such 
a  signal  defeat  on  the  army  of  Scots  led  by  Munro.  Bryan  MacArt 
became  very  popular  in  the  North  after  the  close  of  the  war  with  the 
Government  in  1602,  and  Chichester  began  to  fear  him  as  a  rival,  and 
to  look  malignantly  about  for  some  opportunity  to  cut  him  off.  There 
happened  to  be  a  family  banquet  given  in  the  house  or  castle  of 
Turlough  Mac  Henry  O'Neill  of  the  Fews,  who  was  a  kinsman  of 
Bryan  MacArt,  and  to  this  banquet  the  latter  was  invited.  During 
its  progress  a  dispute  arose  amongst  a  few  of  the  guests  which  ended 
in  a  quarrel,  in  which  one  of  the  disputants  was  slain.  It  was  reported 
that  the  deceased  had  struck  Bryan  MacArt  a  violent  blow  with  a 
heavy  bludgeon,  and  that  the  latter  instantly  drew  his  rapier  and 
buried  it  in  the  body  of  his  assailant.  Here  had  occurred  the  oppor- 
tunity for  which  Chichester  had  been  waiting,  and  he  was  specially 
careful  to  catch  at  it  without  any  unnecessary  delay.  Bryan  MacArt 
was  seized  in  a  prompt  and  very  quiet  style,  but  he  was  so  much 
beloved  by  the  people  that  his  captors  were  afraid  to  carry  him  off  to 
Dublin  by  the  ordinary  route  through  Armagh.  He  was  brought  by 
a  stratagem,  however,  to  Dublin  Castle,  where  he  was  soon  afterwards 
subjected  to  a  mock  trial  and  hanged  as  a  matter  of  course.  Great 
efforts  were  made  to  save  him,  but  without  success,  and  the  Earl  of 


SIR   ARTHUR   CHICHESTER,   LORD   DEPUTY   OF   IRELAND.       165 

Tyrone  in  vain  offered  Chichester  eight  hundred  pounds  sterling  as  a 
ransom — a  sum  equivalent  to  about  eight  thousand  pounds  of  our 
money  at  the  present  day.  Ransoming  was  quite  a  common  way  in 
those  days  of  settling  the  most  serious  affairs  ;  but  Chichester's  pre- 
tended anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  the  State  would  not  permit  him  to 
accept  anything  but  the  life  of  his  victim. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  year  1609,  Chichester,  on  looking 
around,  was  able  to  congratulate  himself  on  the  progress  already  made 
towards  the  attainment  of  his  originally  arranged  purpose  of  planta- 
tion. He  had  got  six  whole  counties  in  Ulster,  or  about  four  million 
acres,  cleared  of  all  serious  impediments  and  obstructions,  and  he  was 
then  preparing  for  a  pleasant  summer  excursion  to  the  North,  that  he 
might  personally  superintend  the  surveying  and  measurement  of  this 
vast  region.  But  what  was  to  be  done  in  the  meantime  with  the  three 
English-made  Ulster  knights  whom  he  had  kept  closed  up  for  two 
years  in  the  prisons  under  Dublin  Castle  ?  He  could  invent  no  plea 
or  pretext  for  hanging  them,  but  he  felt  that  he  should  not  have  them 
on  his  hands  when  the  English  and  Scottish  planters  would  come  to 
get  possession  of  these  unhappy  knights'  estates;  so  it  was  arranged, 
of  course  with  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  King  and  his  council, 
that  Sir  Cormac  O'Neill,  Sir  Donnell  O'Cahan,  and  Sir  Neal  O'Don- 
nell  should  be  sent  forthwith  to  London,  and  there  imprisoned  securely 
in  the  tower  during  the  whole  term  of  their  natural  lives  :  and  they 
were  thus  dismissed  under  a  strong  escort  in  charge  of  Sir  Francis 
Annesley.  Two  of  the  unfortunate  captives  lived  in  the  tower  for  no 
less  than  eighteen  years.  They — all  three — died  and  were  buried 
there  ;  and  when  Chichester  had  thrown  broadcast  the  dragon's  teeth 
in  Ulster,  and  had  gathered  there  enormous  landed  estates,  and  had 
builded  three  great  castles,  all  of  which  have  long  since  disappeared, 
and  had  pocketed  ten  thousand  pounds  yearly  from  the  fines  inflicted 
on  natives  for  refusing  to  attend  the  services  in  the  reformed  churches, 
and  had  even  got  Lough  Neagh  re-named  in  commemoration  of 
himself  and  his  doings  in  the  North — after  having  achieved  all  this 
and  much  more  to  the  same  purpose,  he  also  was  sent  to  England, 
where  he  died,  and  his  remains  were  carried  back  again  to  be  buried 
at  Carrickfergus;  and  if  we  may  believe  a  poetical  account  of  his 
funeral,  written  by  his  chaplain,  the  houses  there  and  even  the  rocks 
"shivered"  on  witnessing  his  return  :  and  not  much  wonder.  But  the 
poet  has  omitted  to  mention  whether  the  "shivering"  arose  from  fear 
or  from  affection. 


1 66 


CHURCH    ISLAND,   OR   INISMORE,   LOUGH    GILL. 


In  subsequent  years  the  Deputy's  successor  in  his  lands  was 
created  Marquis  of  Donegall,  but  every  acre  has  long  passed  from  the 
title  by  ways  and  means  that  are  not  now  our  province  to  enumer- 
ate. As  landowners,  three  centuries  have  seen  their  rise  and  total 
extinction. 


Church  Island,  or  Inismoret  Lough  GilL 

By  William  J.  Fennell,  m.r.i.a.i. 

[URCH   ISLAND,  or  Inismore,  is  one  of  the 
well-wooded  islands  which  assist  in  ren- 
dering the  charm  of  Lough  Gill,  in   Sligo, 
a    close    rival     to    the    beauties    of 
Killarney. 

It  was  no  wonder  that  such  a  spot, 
endowed  with  the  plenteous  gift  of 
pleasure-giving  beauty,  and  all  the 
magic  charm  of  mountains,  forests, 
waters,  sunshine  and  shadows,  and 
all  the  ever-moving  colours  that 
the  Creator  sends  like  the  breath  of  life  on  this  old  world  which 
He  still  "  so  loves  " — it  was,  we  say,  no  wonder  that  such  a  spot 
inspired  the  early  Christians  of  Ireland  to  select  it  as  a  fitting  place 
for  their  "ceAmpuLl "  and  their  altar. 

In  the  centre  of  such  a  picture,  with  the  great  splendour  of  earth 
round  one  and  the  majesty  and  the  wonders  of  heaven  over  one,  the 
heart  must  be  dead  indeed,  that  does  not  offer  its  reverent  homage 
to  the  Power  reigning  over  it  and  us. 

As  a  point  to  radiate  from,  the  church  and  its  monastery — for  one 
must  have  existed — was  well  chosen  ;  and  the  protective  waters  of  the 
lake  added  a  security  which  was  desirable  in  times  when  "sanctuary  " 
was  little  known,  and  often  not  considered,  and  saved  it,  at  least,  from 
many  a  defensive  battle  which  disturbed  the  reposeful  harmony  of 
many  a  less-favoured  settlement. 

On  the  eastern  end  of  the  island  stand  the  ruins  of  the  old  church 


CHURCH    ISLAND,   OR   INISMORE,   LOUGH   GILL. 


167 


said  to  have  been  founded  by  St.  Lornan,  a  fellow  missionary  of  St. 
Columbcille,  in  the  sixth  century.  The  fabric,  undoubtedly,  belongs 
to  the  period  of  the  early  Christian  Church,  but  it  does  not  extend  so 
far  back  as  the  sixth  century ;  for  at  that  remote  period  the  churches 
were  diminutive,  and  often  stone  roofed,  like  St.  Brendan's  in  Aran- 
more.  Such  a  church  may  have  existed  here,  giving  way  to  the 
larger  structure,  as  shown  by  our  plan. 


igaBSggffi^Er 


-1%. 


This  present  church  seems  to  have  been  in  a  most  flourishing 
condition  in  the  year  1416,  when,  with  other  treasures,  it  contained  a 
"  valuable  "  library  ;  and  if  the  manuscripts  were  anything  approach- 
ing the  ordinary  art  standard  that  has  made  the  Celtic  church  famous 
then  it  must  have  been  "  valuable"  indeed.  In  this  year  the  church 
suffered  seriously  from  fire.  Some  alterations  may  have  occurred  in  its 
history  about  this  time — as  indicated  by  the  comparatively  advanced 
detail  of  the  door.  After  the  fire,  we  can  find  no  evidence  of  re- 
occupation,  and  consequently  assume  that  the  building  remained 
derelict  until  the  Board  of  Works  considered  it  worthy  of  attention. 

The  plan  speaks  for  itself ;  but  we 
desire  to  notice  more  closely  the  western 
portion,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  two- 
chambered  building,  but  under  the  con- 
tinuous roof  of  the  church  ;  the  flooring 


was  of  timber,  and  the  upper  chamber 
reached  by  a  ladder.  The  lower  room 
— called  the  library — possesses  the  rare 
and  interesting  features  of  a  pair  of 
"  squints,"  well  separated  on  the  church 
side,  but  curiously  worked  together,  one 
over  the  other,  on  the  library  side,  divided     _i  1 

•  Cbanrn  bev>  •  o  v<s>p  • 


only  by  a  flag  about  three  inches  thick.        / 


168 


CHURCH    ISLAND,  OR   INISMORE,   LOUGH   GILL. 


"Doov-  fpow-  dpvVcV? 


Go-Uby»ar>v 


There  is  much  doubt  as  to  the  object  of  one  of  these  whose  line  of  view 
only  commands  a  small  portion  of  wall  east  of  the  door  ;  but  the  object 

of  the  other,  which  keeps  the  altar  in  view, 
is  obvious.  These  are  not  to  be  taken 
as  ''leper"  squints,  as  the  unfortunate 
creatures  afflicted  with  this  disease  were 
denied  admission,  and  their  "  squints " 
were  always  on  exterior  walls.  The  upper 
chamber  possessed  a  window  also  com- 
manding the  altar.  Such  opes  were  used 
for  devotional  purposes,  and  also  to  give 
the  clergy  in  charge  a  full  eye  over  his 
sacred  trust. 

Referring  to  the  loss  of  the  library,  it  is 
as  well  to  quote  Colonel   Wood -Mart  in,1  who  says  : 

"In  the  conflagration  of  this  building  in  1416,  many  valuable  writings  and  histories 
were  consumed,  a  loss  much  to  be  deplored.  Manuscripts  (Screapt'a)  known  to  have 
perished  were  those  of  the  O'Guirnins.  The  expression,  teach  -screaptra,  Colgan  renders 
Bibliotheca ;  Mageoghegan,  library.  The  literal  translation  is  'house  of  manuscripts,'  and 
the  word  would  seem  to  have  been  employed  by  the  old  writers  in  the  sense  of  Biblical 
Scriptures.  O'Donovan  was  of  opinion  that  it  meant,  in  this  instance,  manuscripts  in 
general,  collected  by  the  O'Cuirnins,  of  which  one  book  alone,  the  Leabhar-Gearr,  or 
Short  Book,  is  mentioned  by  name.  Various  other  important  documents  not  specifically 
named,  silver  chalices  and  musical  instruments,  also  fell  a  prey  to  the  devouring  element. 
Had  these  manuscripts  survived  to  the  present  day,  they  might  have  imparted  an  account  of 
Carbery  as  complete  as  that  of  Tireragh,  compiled  by  the  MacFirbises.  It  was  early  in  this 
year  (1416)  that  Roderic,  grandson  of  the  celebrated  Brian  O'Dowd,  died,  and  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  brother,  Teige  Riadach 
O'Dowd,  in  honour  of  whom  Giolla  Josa  More 
MacFirbis  composed  his  poem  on  Tireragh." 

The  church  has  but  little  in 
the  way  of  architectural  detail  that 
calls  for  special  notice,  except  the 
entrance  door,  which  carries  round 
its  otherwise  plain  arch  a  series  of 
cusps  with  rather  good  effect,  and 
points  distinctly  to  the  decorated 
period  of  Gothic  art. 

We    might    also    mention    the 
existence  of  corbel  stones  project- 
ing from  the  gables  with  apparently 
no  useful  purpose  ;  while  had  they  been  set  on    the  same  bed  and 
projected  lineable  with  the  gable,  they  would  have  correctly  occupied 

1  History  of  Siigo  County  and  Town,  by  W.  G.  Wood-Martin,  p.  239. 


SOUTH    DOOR    FROM    INSIDE. 


CHURCH    ISLAND,   OR   INISMORE,   LOUGH   GILL. 


169 


the  first  stones  of  a  barge  course.  This  singularity  leads  one  to 
think  that  any  attempts  at  restoration  were  not  guided  by  skilled 
judgment. 

A  certain  amount  of  fame  seemed  at  one  time  to  hover  round 
the  "Saint's  Bed,"  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  "Our  Lady's  Bed": 
a  rude  construction  more  like  a  poor  at- 
tempt to  build  a  cromleac  than  an  oratory 
or  a  devotional  cell.  This  now  ruined  struc- 
ture is  about  forty-four  feet  east  of  the 
church,  by  four  feet  to  the  north,  as  shown 
on  our  plan.  Since  the  time  when  the 
Saint  "  mortified "  himself  by  spending 
sleepless  nights  in  it,  it  is  said  to  have 
possessed  a  sacred  power,  which  made  it  a 
place  of  frequent  resort  for  women  who 
desired  the  blessings  of  maternity.  The 
ritual  required  the  aspirant  to  enter  it  feet 
foremost,  which  was  accomplished  by  wrig- 
gling in  and  turning  over  three  times  and 
always  to  the  right,  repeating  each  time 
"  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  then  emerging,  and 
having  said  three  "Our  Fathers"  and  three  "Hail  Marys,"  the  rite 
was  complete. 

An  inhabitant  of  the  island  assured  us  that  she  knew  an  American 
woman  who,  desiring  such  blessings,  came,  in  good  faith,  to  "  Our 
Lady's  Bed,"  and  observed  its  ancient  rite,  with  the  result  that  the 
"  blessings  "  came  afterwards  to  her  abundantly,  and  in  quick  succession. 

The  final  item  which  we  note  and  which  has  been  a  kind  of 
antiquaries'  puzzle,  is  the  inscription  on  the  right-hand  reveal  of  the 
entrance  door.  It  has  been  regarded  as  an  ogham,  and  again,  as 
Roman  numerals  written  in  church  text.  We  give  it  as  a  tail-piece, 
and  will  feel  obliged  if  some  reader  will  favour  us  with  a  correct 
interpretation. 


-Cctlp®. 


w  u 


\yo 


THE   SACK   OF   "THE   LURGAN." 


The  Sack  of  "  the  Lurgaru" 

(A  Study.) 
By  Thomas  Fitzpatrick,  ll.d. 

[The  extracts  from  the  depositions  are  taken  direct  from  the  MSS.  in  T.  C.  D.   Library. 
Most  (if  not  all)  herein  given  are  now  printed  for  the  first  time.] 


I 


BRONZE    POT    FROM    LURGAN    CASTLE. 
(Now  in  the  Collection  of  Monsignor  O '  Laverty.) 


N  the  following  pages  I 
trace  the  contemporary 
history  of  the  alleged 
"  massacre  "  and  treachery  com- 
mitted by  the  insurgents  on  the 
taking  of  Lurgan,  in  November 
1 64 1.  I  purpose  to  show  that 
what  really  did  occur  on  that 
occasion  has  been  grievously 
misrepresented  in  the  commonly 
received  accounts.  I  consider, 
in  the  first  place,  the  relations 
given  by  the  writers  of  best 
repute  ;  in  the  next  place,  I 
compare  these  relations  with  the  hitherto  unpublished  testimony  in 
the  T.  C.  D.  manuscripts,  and  invite  the  reader  to  judge  of  the  result. 
Carte  is  the  writer  who  is  chiefly  responsible  for  originating  a 
controversy  regarding  some  earlier  incidents  of  the  insurrection  of 
1 64 1 — a  controversy  which  has  been  productive  of  some  heat,  and 
of  very  little  else.  Describing  the  rapid  advances  made  by  the  Irish, 
he  says : 

"  The  chief  force  of  the  Rebels  was  now  employed  in  the  neighbouring  county  of  Downe. 
On  the  15th  of  this  month  (Nov.  164 1)  they,  after  a  fortnight's  siege,  reduced  the  castle  of 
Loargan  l ;  Sir  William  Bromley,  after  a  stout  defence,  surrendering  it  upon  terms  of  march- 
ing out  with  his  family  and  goods.  But  such  was  the  unworthy  disposition  of  the  Rebels, 
that  they  kept  him,  his  lady,  and  children  prisoners,  rifled  his  house,  plundered,  stripped, 
and  killed  most  of  his  servants,  and  treated  all  the  townsmen  in  the  same  manner." 

I  hope  to  show  that  these  particulars  are,  to  say  the  least  of  them, 
not  well-founded  ;  although  my  present  purpose  is  rather  to  examine 

1  For  the  strange  form  "  Loargan  "  used  by  Carle  (and  adopted  by  W.  K.  Lecky)  there  is  no 
sufficient  authority  that  I  can  find.  I  have  seen  the  name  so  spelled  in  one  or  other  of  the  Thorpe 
Tracts  relating  to  the  period  ;  but  these  tracts  are  full  of  grotesque  misprints  of  Irish  names  of 
persons  and  places.  "  Loargan"  is  not  used  in  the  MS.  depositions.  "  Lorgan  "  occurs.  But 
the  present  form — "  Lurgan  " — was  then  in  general  use. 


THE   SACK   OF   "THE   LURGAN."  171 

what  our  author  further  says  in  connection  with  the  taking  of  "  the 
Lurgan "  by  the  Magennises,  O'Hanlons,  and  MacConvills.  He 
proceeds  : 

"  This  was  the  first  breach  of  faith  which  the  Rebels  were  guilty  of  (at  least  in  these  parts) 
in  regard  of  articles  of  capitulation  ;  for  when  Conway,  on  November  5,  surrendered  his 
castle  of  Bally-Aghie,  in  the  county  of  Derry,  to  them,  they  kept  the  terms  for  which  he 
stipulated,  and  allowed  him  to  march  out  with  his  men,  and  to  carry  away  trunks,  with  plate 
and  money  in  them,  to  Antrim."1 

Then  comes  the  passage  which  gave  the  start  to  the  controversy 
already  alluded  to  : 

"  Whether  the  slaughter  made  by  a  party  from  Carrickfergus,  in  the  territory  of  Magee 
— a  long  narrow  island  running  from  that  town  up  to  Olderfleet  (in  which  it  is  affirmed  that 
near  3,000  harmless  Irish  men,  women,  and  children  were  cruelly  massacred) — happened 
before  the  surrender  of  Loargan,  is  hard  to  be  determined,  the  relation  published  of  facts  in 
those  times  being  very  indistinct  and  uncertain  with  regard  to  the  time  when  they  were  com- 
mitted, though  it  is  confidently  asserted  that  the  said  massacre  happened  in  this  month  of 
November." — Life  of  Ormonde,  i,  188  (original  folio  edition). 

I  may,  at  this  stage,  remark  that,  in  my  judgment  of  the  matter, 

there  is  no  such  uncertainty  as  to  the  order  of  the  events  ;  and,  further, 

that  the  question  has  not,  and  cannot  have,  any  such  significance  as 

so  many  have  sought  to  attach  to  it.     But,  as  it  has  exercised  so  many 

able  pens,  and  may,  for  a  time  to  come,  continue  to  exercise  many 

more,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  see  what  illustration  of  the  subject  is  to 

be  found  in  contemporary  documents.     The  issue  is  very  lucidly  and 

fairly  put  by  W.  E.  Lecky  in  his  remarks  on  the  foregoing  extracts 

from  Carte  : 

"  A  similar  assertion  has  been  made  by  Clarendon,  and  in  the  catalogue  of  cruelties 
committed  by  the  English,  published  by  the  Irish  ;  but  Leland  has  shown  from  the  MS. 
depositions  in  Trinity  College  that  this  massacre  [Island  Magee]  did  not  take  place  till  the 
beginning  of  January,  and  that  the  victims  were  only  30  families.  (See  Leland's  History  of 
Ireland,  iii,  128,  129,  and,  on  the  other  side,  Curry's  Civil  Wars,  i,  195  205. )  It  is  quite 
incredible,  if  the  massacre  of  the  Island  Magee  had  taken  place  as  early  as  November,  and 
had  been  of  the  dimensions  that  are  alleged,  that  it  should  never  have  been  mentioned  by  the 
rebels  in  any  of  the  papers  they  put  forth  to  justify  their  conduct.  The  question,  '  Who  first 
shed  blood?'  has  been  much  discussed  ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  some  murders — though 
they  were  few  and  isolated — were  committed  by  the  rebels  in  the  first  week  of  the  rebellion 

1  Later  writers,  taking  Carte  as  their  guide,  have  contrived  to  wander  still  farther  from  the 
straight  path.  The  Rev.  C.  O'Conor,  D.D.,  in  his  "  Historical  Address  "  (1812),  says  :  "  Lurgan 
surrendered  to  the  Irish  Rebels  by  capitulation,  Nov.  15,  1641,  when,  contrary  to  the  faith  of 
Nations,  the  whole  garrison  were  put  to  the  sword"  (part  ii,  p.  232,  note).  For  this  astounding 
statement  there  is  no  justification  whatever  in  the  Depositions,  nor  does  Carte  commit  himself  to 
anything  so  wide  of  the  fact. 

A  more  recent  namesake  of  Dr.  O'Conor,  availing  himself  of  similar  licence,  says  :  "  Lurgan 
was  surrendered  to  Sir  Phelim  upon  conditions,  which  he  unscrupulously  violated,  and  gave  up 
the  town  to  be  plundered  by  his  rapacious  followers." — Narrative  of  Events  in  the  History  of 
Ireland.     By  R.  O'Conor,  Barrister-at-Law.      Dublin  :   McGlashin  &  Gill.      1858.      1'.  126. 

Thus  History  is  writ  !  Whatever  is  blameworthy  in  the  capture  of  Lurgan,  Sir  Phelim 
O'Neill  had,  personally,  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  that  matter.  This  ought  to  be  clear  enough 
from  the  documentary  evidence.  And  this  R.  O'Conor  professes  to  base  his  work,  among  other 
authorities,  on  "the  MSS.  in  the  University." 


I72  THE   SACK   OF   "THE    LURGAN." 

As  I  have  already  shown,  however,  the  Scotch  appear  to  have  been  unmolested  till  they 
attacked  the  rebels.  It  is  certain  that  there  was  nothing  resembling  a  massacre  committed 
by  the  rebels  in  the  first  few  days  of  the  rebellion.  It  is  equally  certain  that,  before  a  week 
had  passed,  the  troops  slaughtered  numbers  of  the  rebels  without  the  loss  of  one  man  on  their 
own  side.  Considering  how  strongly  anti-Irish  were  the  sympathies  of  Petty,  his  conclusion 
is  very  remarkable  :  '  As  for  the  blood  shed  in  the  contest,  God  best  knows  who  did  occasion 
it  '  {Political  Anatomy  of  Ireland,  ch.  a,)."  —Ireland  in  iSth  Century,  i,  54,  note. 

In  these  statements  Lecky  runs  counter  to  much  that  has  long 
been  fashionable  among  writers  who  would  pass  for  historians.  None 
the  less,  his  are  the  views  which  will  best  abide  the  test  of  examination. 

Now,  whether  it  be  true  that,  as  Leland  says,  "  thirty  families  were 
murdered  at  Island  Magee,"  or  that,  as  Dr.  James  Seaton  Reid  says, 
"  the  number  there  and  then  put  to  death  did  not  exceed  thirty  indi- 
viduals " — or  whatever  may  have  been  the  number — there  can  be  no 
parity  shown  between  what  undeniably  happened  there,  and  what 
reputedly  happened  at  Lurgan.  There  is  much  difference  of  opinion 
both  as  to  the  date  and  as  to  the  extent  of  the  slaughter  in  "  the 
Island."  But  no  one  attempts  to  deny,  or  even  to  doubt,  that  much 
blood  was  shed  there  under  circumstances  that  admit  of  no  palliation. 
The  massacre  was  deliberate,  and,  as  far  as  the  victims  were  concerned, 
wholly  unprovoked.  Dr.  Reid,  indeed,  tries  to  show  that  something 
which  happened  in  a  remote  part  of  the  county  (at  Portnaw) — an  inci- 
dent which  has  been  grievously  distorted — may  have  led  to'  the  Island 
tragedy.     The  excuse  is  too  flimsy  to  call  for  reply.     Leland  says  : 

"  The  Scottish  soldiers,  in  particular,  who  had  reinforced  the  garrison  of  Carrickfer^us, 
were  possessed  with  an  habitual  hatred  of  popery,  and  influenced  to  an  implacable  detestation 

of  the  Irish   by  multiplied  accounts  of  their  cruelties In  one  fatal  night  they 

issued  from  Carrickfergus,  into  an  adjacent  district  called  Island  Magee,  where  a  number  of 
the  poorer  Irish  resided,  unoffending  and  untainted  by  the  rebellion.  If  we  may  believe  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  party,  thirty  families  were  assailed  by  them  in  their  beds,  and  massacred 
with  calm  and  deliberate  cruelty." 

I  hope  to  show  that  nothing  comparable  to  this  happened  at  Lur- 
gan, although  some  incidents  of  that  raid  are  far  from  blameless. 
Having  studied  the  case  with  much  care,  I  have  very  grave  doubt 
that  at  Lurgan  any  one  was  "  massacred  with  calm,  deliberate  cruelty," 
although  some  lives  were  unhappily  lost  on  the  occasion.  But  the 
number,  taking  the  accounts  at  the  worst,  fell  far  short  of  even  "  thirty 
individuals." 

There  need  be  no  difficulty  about  assigning  priority  in  respect  of 
time  to  the  Lurgan  affair,  although  the  date  is  not  so  certain  as  might 
have  been  expected,  considering  the  number  of  deponents  who  were 
eye-witnesses  to  most  of  what  they  relate.  Carte  mentions  the  1 5th 
of  November.      The  statements  made  upon  oath  either   point  to  or 


THE   SACK   OF   "THE   LURGAN."  1 73 

mention  an  earlier  date.  Dr.  Reid  fixes  the  Island  Magee  massacre  on 
Sunday,  9  January,  164 1-2  ;  and  this  is  in  accordance  with  the  state- 
ments of  deponents  in  that  matter.  The  statements  were  taken  more 
than  eleven  years  after  the  event,  and  there  may  be  some  inaccuracy 
as  to  the  time.  I  do  not  attach  any  importance  to  this.  My  own 
impression  is  that,  although  uneducated  witnesses — country  witnesses 
more  particularly — might  be  hazy  about  the  particular  date,  they  could 
be  relied  upon  to  say  whether  the  murders  were  committed  before  or 
after  Christmas.  The  greater  festivals — Christmas  Day,  Candlemas 
Day,  All  Saints'  Day — have  a  place  in  the  memory  of  the  dullest 
peasant,  and  any  striking  occurrence  would  be  spoken  of  as  taking 
place  so  long  before,  or  so  long  after  Christmas,  or  Candlemas,  according 
to  the  festival  nearest  in  point  of  time.  I  feel  rather  confident  that  the 
Magee  deponents,  even  after  the  lapse  of  ten,  or  twice  ten,  or  thrice 
ten  years,  would  still  be  clear  enough  as  to  the  circumstance  that  the 
massacre  of  their  kinsmen  and  neighbours  was  after  Christmas,  so 
many  days  or  weeks.  The  fact  that  the  atrocity  was  perpetrated  on 
Sunday  would  serve  to  fix  the  exact  time  more  indelibly  in  the  minds 
of  the  survivors.1 

So  much  may,  I  think,  be  conceded  to  those  who  contend  that  a 
good  deal  depends  on  the  priority  of  either  event.  Here  I  part  with 
both  sets  of  combatants.  The  question  has  not  the  significance  which 
— at  all  events  by  implication— has  been,  on  all  hands,  attached  to  it. 
There  might  be  some  show  of  real  issue  had  anything  occurred  at 
Lurgan  which  was  at  all  analogous  to  the  assassination  of  the  Magees. 
If  the  Irish  of  Clancan,  Clanbrassill,  and  Clanconnell  had  come  in 
the  night-time,  and,  "  with  calm  and  deliberate  cruelty,"  murdered  the 
people  of  Lurgan  (or  any  number  of  them)  in  their  beds,  in  that  case 
it  might  become  of  real  significance  to  settle  the  relative  bearing  of 
the  respective  periods.  Neither  in  the  number  of  victims,  nor  in  any 
other  particular,  does  the  Lurgan  case  resemble  or  approximate  the 
shocking  performance  in  the  adjoining  county.  This  is  clear  enough, 
though  we  were  to  take  the  account  of  the  sack  of  "  the  Lurgan  "  as  it 
has  been  handed  down  by  Carte,  and  adopted  by  Leland  and  others 
of  the  more  moderate  school  of  writers.  My  duty  now  is  to  show  that 
the  narrative  so  delivered  is  altogether  inconsistent  with  what  may  be 
extracted  from  the  depositions,  in  spite  of  some  rather  glaring  attempts 
to  represent  the  matter  as  a  local  "  Saint  Bartholomew." 

1  I  do  not,  in  this  article,  enter  into  the  question  of  the  Island  Magee  massacre  further  than  I 
find  necessary  to  show  that  the  oft-assumed  connection  between  what  happened  there  and  what 
happened  at  Lurgan  does  not  really  exist. 


174  THE   SACK    OF   "THE    LURGAN. 

I  flatter  myself  that  I  have  been  able  to  gather  all  the  evidence 
that  is  to  be  found  in  the  T.  C.  D.  collection  of  depositions  (all, 
I  should  say,  that  is  material)  ;  and  though  we  were  to  take,  without 
question  or  analysis,  the  most  damaging  statements  regarding  the 
Lurgan  "  massacre,"  we  cannot  put  it  on  a  level  with  that  of  Island 
Magee  taken  at  the  very  lowest  estimate — Dr.  Reid's  "  thirty  indivi- 
duals." And  here  I  must  direct  attention  to  a  feature  of  the  "  deposed  " 
accounts,  which  attaches  generally  to  all  such  statements  dealing  with 
the  incidents  of  that  unhappy  time.  We  scarcely  hear  of  anything 
like  conflict  or  warfare  in  these  "sworn  "  accounts  ;  it  is  all  "  murther 
and  massacre."  We  have  on  the  one  hand  a  horde  of  bloodthirsty 
rebels,  fiends  incarnate  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  a  flock  of  timid,  help- 
less "  English  Protestants,"  who  simply  wait  to  be  killed.  I  respect- 
fully invite  the  reader  to  examine  the  "  evidence  "  which  I  produce — 
I  withhold  nothing  material,  so  far  as  my  own  researches  enable  me 
to  go — and  then  judge  for  himself  whether  "  the  whole  truth  "  was 
sworn,  or,  at  any  rate,  reduced  to  writing.  I  begin  with  Sir  William 
Brownlow,  the  local  magnate,  proprietor  of  the  castle  and  town  of 
Lurgan.  Carte  says  Sir  William  stood  a  fortnight's  siege,  and  sur- 
rendered, having  "  made  a  stout  defence."  If  he  did  anything  of  the 
kind,  Sir  William  must  have  been  an  extremely  modest  person,  for  he 
takes  no  credit  for  making  any  manner  of  defence.  We  have  two 
statements  of  his  :  one,  unsworn  but  signed,  appears  to  have  been 
drawn  up  as  an  outline  of  the  evidence  he  could  give  when  called 
upon  ;  the  other  is  a  sworn  deposition,  drawn  up  and  attested  in  the 
usual  form.  The  statements  are  by  no  means  identical  ;  and  it  is  well 
worth  while  to  examine  both.  That  the  statements  were  not  made 
some  years  earlier  is  rather  remarkable,  considering  the  informant's 
social  position,  and  his  being  all  the  time  in  touch  with  the  powers. 
The  following  is  the  information  first-named  : 

"  I  doe  testifie  that  about  the  23rd  of  October,  1641,  at  the  beginning  of  this  horrid 
Rebellion,  Toole  McMacan  (sic),  Toole  McRory  McCann,  Art  oge  McGlasny  Magennis, 
Edmund  boy  McGlasny  Magennis,  fargus  Magennis,  Brian  Roe  McGlasny  Magennis,  Glasney 
oge  Magennis,  Oghee  O'Hanlon,  with  divers  others  of  the  Irish  Rebells  in  the  company, 
came  to  the  towne  of  Lorgan  in  Clanbrassell,  in  the  county  of  Armagh,  and  with  fire  and 
sword  burnt  the  towne,  and  murthered  severall  of  the  Protestant  inhabitants,  viz.,  John 
Davies,  Richard  Ridedall,  Thomas  Ward,  Leonard  Riggs,  Thomas  Hawker,  James  Horsley, 
and  severall  others ;  and  that  the  said  Rebells  came  the  next  day  following,  and  threatened 
that  except  I  would  deliver  my  house  they  would  put  us  all  to  the  sword,  man,  woman,  and 
child,  and  if  we  would  surrender  that  they  would  convoy  us  safe  to  Lisnegarvy,  and  each 
man  to  goe  with  his  sword  and  apparell  ;  and  wee  at  that  tyme  having  noe  manner  of  fire- 
arms nor  amunition  whereby  we  might  defend  ourselves,  and  having  many  poor  stript  men, 
women,  and  children  within  the  house,  and  noe  way  of  livelihood  in  regard  to  our  sudden 


THE   SACK   OF   "THE   LURGAN."  175 

surprisall  wee  consented  to  deliver  the  house,  wch  was  noe  sooner  done  than  they,  contrary 

to  the  condicons,  plundered  the  house,  stript  the  people,  and  in  a  cruell  manner  murthered 

severall  of  them,  and  I  with  my  children  sent  in  a  sad  condition  to  Armagh,  where  wee 

remained  prisoners  untill  such  tyme  as  the  Inglish  and  Scots  army  marched  to  the  Newry, 

uppon  wcl1   I   was  sent  from  my  wiffe  and  children  to  the  prison  of  Dungannon,  and  ther 

remained  untill  a  partie  of  the  English  Army  came  to  Charlemount,  at  wch  tyme  it  pleased 

God  to  sett  me  at  libertie.     All  wch  I  am  readie  to  aver,  as  witness  my  hand  the  26th  of 

ffebruary,  1652. *  ,,7    „  „ 

3 '      J  W.  Brown  low. 

There  is  not  much  show  of  fight,  or  of  "  stout  defence,"  in  that 
statement.  In  short,  I  would  go  so  far  as  to  say  the  honourable 
gentleman  very  much  belittles  himself  and  friends  in  his  zeal  to  tarnish 
"the  Rebells."  In  describing  these,  he  is  liberal  enough  in  the  use  of 
reproachful  terms, unconscious  of  the  absurd  suggestion  that  the  English 
inhabitants  of  Lurgan  acted  as  only  so  many  helpless  old  women 
might  be  expected  to  do.  But,  in  spite  of  Sir  William's  maudlin 
recital,  I  hope  to  show  that  the  people  of  Lurgan  did  not  so  "  let  their 
bone  go  with  the  dog."  Like  most  of  the  statements  made  without 
cross-examination,  and  behind  the  backs  of  the  accused,  this  one  care- 
fully excludes  every  circumstance  and  particular  which  might  serve  to 
show  the  real  state  of  the  case.  Yet  a  moment's  reflection  suffices  to 
satisfy  anyone  of  the  desperate  attempt  made  to  set  up  a  fictitious  and 
altogether  untenable  situation,  in  which  one  set  of  actors  are  painted 
black  as  black  can  be,  while  those  on  the  other  side  are  the  very  per- 
sonifications of  innocence  and  helplessness  !  And  then  how  vague  is 
the  information.  Would  it  be  too  much  to  expect  that  Sir  William 
Brownlow  would  know  every  man  in  his  town  of  Lurgan  ?  The  popu- 
lation at  that  time  would  be  small — little  more  than  a  family  party, 
of  which  he  was  the  central  figure.  When  he  attempts  to  give  a  list 
of  the  "  murdered,"  why  should  it  be  necessary  to  eke  it  out  indefinitely 
by  such  a  phrase — "  and  several  others  "  ?  To  affect  such  ignorance 
of  his  tenants  is  bad  enough  or  foolish  enough  ;  but  worse  still  is  the 
total  ignorance  of  his  own  household.  Of  the  "  several  "  servants  said 
to  be  killed  in  his  house,  he  appears  not  to  know  the  name  of  one  ! 
This  is  a  very  long  stretch  of  "  aristocratic  carelessness."  If  the  mem- 
bers of  his  household  were  worth  mentioning  at  all,  they  were  worth 
naming  as  well.  Even  the  number  so  killed  he  cannot  mention. 
In  the  ten  or  eleven  years  that  had  elapsed  since  his  liberation  from 
Dungannon  prison,  had  he  been  able  to  collect  no  more  particulars 
than  are  here  witnessed  under  his  own  hand  ?  What  would  become 
of  this   well-trimmed   information   when   subjected   to   even   ordinary 

1  The  dates  follow  the  old  style. 


176  THE   SACK   OK   "THE    LURGAN." 

cross-examination  ?    We  shall  see  what  further  light  is  to  be  had  from 
his  sworn  statement  (County  Armagh  depositions,  fol.  266). 

"The  examination  of  Sr  William    brownlow,    Knt.,   taken  before  us  at  Carrickfergus,  the 
24th  May,  1653  : 

"  Whoe  being  duly  sworne  and  examined  saith,  That  in  the  latter  end  of  October  1641, 
that  is  three  or  four  days,  or  thereabouts,  before  yc  fireing  of  ye  towne  of  Lurgan,  in  ye  county 
of  Armagh,  which  was  upon  the  first  day  of  November,  in  the  year  aforesaid,  Neece  Mc(  'on- 
well  came  to  this  exarch's  house  with  a  threatening  Messadge,  as  hee  then  said,  by  direction 
of  Art  oge  Magennis,  Edmund  boy  Magennis,  and  divers  other  Irish  that  was  then  gathered 
together  within  a  mile  of  Lurgan,  being  all,  or  the  most  part  of  them,  armed,  ready  prepared 
and  resolved  to  come  to  the  town  of  Lurgan  to  destroy  ye  said  towne  and  y-  inhabitants  thereof, 
if  they  would  not  depart  and  get  them  gon  from  thence  in  all  hast.  And  alsoe  further  said  unto 
this  exam',  that  Art  oge  Maginis  and  Edmund  boy  Maginis,  w"1  the  rest  that  were  in  their 
company,  had  sent  him  the  said  Neece  McConwell,  to  let  this  deponent  know  that  they  did 
admire1  that  hee  durst  presume  or  conceave  himself  to  be  able  or  of  force  to  withstand  them  or 
hould  his  house  against  their  power,  Having  taken  the  Newry,  Ardmagh,  with  other  townes, 
and  lately  destroyed  and  burnt  Drummore,  from  whence  they  made  the  English  and  Scotch  that 
came  against  them,  to  flee  and  run  away,  And  further  threatened  this  exam'  and  the  rest  of  them 
y'  was  present  in  the  house  with  him,  that  if  hee  and  they  would  not  suddenly  and  presently 
depart,  and  get  them  all  away  with  speede,  and  leave  the  house  to  the  said  Art  og  Maginis, 
Edmund  boy  Maginis,  and  the  rest  of  their  rebellious  confetterets,  they  would  fall  upon  them 
and  destroy  them  with  fire  and  sword,  which  accordingly  they,  with  divers  others  in  their 
company,  being  a  great  multitude  joined  together  in  a  riotous  and  rebellious  way,  came  on 
the  first  day  of  November  1641,  towards  the  evening  of  the  said  day,  to  the  towne  of  Lurgan, 
and  then  did  fire  the  said  towne,  and  killed  [divers  of  people]  as,  namely,  John  Davies, 
Lennard  Riggs,  Thomas  Ward,  with  several  others  ;  at  wch  time  of  fireing  the  said  Towne, 
and  murdering  the  forenamed  John  Davies,  and  the  rest,  this  exam'  doth  verely  and  credibly 
beleeve,  Neece  McConwell,  Patterick  duff  McConwell,  and  Owen  Roe  McKeene,  to  bee 
present  Acters  in  ye  said  fireing  of  ye  towne  and  murdering  of  ye  people  aforesaid.  And  the 
cause  of  this  deponent's  belief  that  the  same  is  truth,  this  deponent  hath  been  severall  times 
informed  and  tould  the  same  during  the  time  of  his  remaining  prisoner  in  Ardmagh.  And 
further  saith  not.  W.   Brownlow. 

"Taken  before  us 

Phil  Pinchon,  Sam.    Bonnell, 
Roger  Lyndon." 

Of  the  two  statements,  the  sworn  one  is  the  more  turgid,  more 
enforcedly  rhetorical.  And  this  is  no  surprise  to  anyone  who  has 
gone  through  a  considerable  number  of  the  depositions.  They  are,  in 
general,  translated  into  a  jargon  such  as  no  sane  man  or  woman  ever 
used  in  telling  a  story  or  giving  an  account  of  one's  own  experience. 
What  makes  the  thunder  so  appalling  ?  The  reverberations,  as  we 
say  ;  the  repetition  and  reflection  of  the  same  sound,  multiplying  and 
intensifying  the  effect.  On  a  principle  analogous,  if  not  identical,  we 
find  in  this,  as  in  most  depositions,  much  piling  up  of  nearly  synony- 
mous terms  and  phrases.  The  bearer  of  the  "thundering"  message 
was  a  lad  of  thirteen  years — in  May  1653  he  was  said  to  be  aged 
twenty-six  years.    Fancy  a  lad  of  that  age  mouthing  all  the  bombastic 

1  "Admire  ;  "  i.e.,  think  it  strange  (minis  J. 


THE    SACK    OK   "THE    LURGAN."  1/7 

trash  with  which  he  is  credited  in  this  sworn  recital !  Had  Sir  William 
Brownlow  made  a  statement  at  the  time  he  was  set  free,  it  might  have 
disclosed  the  real  facts.  But,  as  it  has  been  held  back  until  Neece 
MacConwell  (or  MacConville),  Owen  Roe  MacKeene,  and  others,  are  in 
prison,  and  awaiting  trial  on  a  capital  charge,  we  have  got  only  such 
evidence  as  would  serve  the  purpose  of  the  public  prosecutor.  And  this 
applies  to  other  statements  taken  with  a  view  to  the  same  prosecution. 
Only  one  of  them,  cited  further  on,  lets  out,  as  by  inadvertence,  how 
the  "  murders  "  took  place. 

William  DufBeld,  Seagoe,  deposes  : 

"  And  further  saith  that  when  the  Rebells  attempted  and  surprised  the  town  of  Lurgan, 
tenn  Protestants  (as  this  deponent  verely  believeth  and  hath  credibly  heard)  were  either 
wounded  so  as  they  quickly  [thereafter1  dyed  or  otherwise  were  slaine  outright.  And  many 
thousands  Protestant  men,  -women,  and  children,  being  stript  of  their  clothes,  dyed  also  of  could 
and  want  in  several!  parts  of  the  country  "  (  Jurat,  9  August,  1642). 

The  latter  statement  shows  the  extraordinary  latitude  accorded  to 
the  "  witnesses."  They  were  as  free  to  swear  to  what  should  have 
occurred  in  parts  of  the  country  they  had  never  seen,  as  to  what  did 
(or  did  not)  happen  at  their  own  doors.  However,  this  deponent  is 
far  from  being  one  of  the  most  reckless.  Living  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Lurgan,  his  "  evidence  "  is  that  of  one  who  could  know  the  particu- 
lars of  what  occurred  there.  We  may  take  it  he  does  not  understate 
the  number  of  casualties — for  that  is  what  they  were.  Sir  William 
Brownlow's  unsworn  list  gives  six  names,  and  the  "  several  others " 
did  not  exceed  four.  William  Duffield  had  almost  proved  too  candid  a 
deponent,  for  he  was  on  the  point  of  letting  out  how  the  killing  and 
wounding  happened.  This  deposition,  it  will  be  observed,  is  earlier 
than  Sir  William  Brownlow's  by  more  than  ten  years. 

Captain  Valentine  Blacker,  also  speaking  from  hearsay,  saith  : 

"  That  Edmund  boy  McGlasney  McGennis  of  Clanconnell  [dead]  and  Art  Oge  McGlasney 
McGennis  [deaLj  of  the  same,  gathered  the  men  in  Clanconnell,  and  burnt  Downe  patrick, 
Dromore,  and  Lurgan,  as  they  themselves  confesst  they  had  done,  at  their  returne,  to  this 
informant,  being  then  their  prisoner. 

"Toole  McMacan  (sic)  and  Toole  McRowry  McCann  gathered  the  Irish  in  Clancan  and 
Clanbrassell,  and  went  [to]  burne  Lurgan,  and  when  they  returned  they  bragd  that  they  had 
burnt  it,  in  the  informant's  hearing,  who  also  saw  them  going  thither,  the  said  Toole 
McMacan  comanding  them,  and  marching  before  them.  Toole  McRowry  McCann  was 
lieut'." 

To  this  statement  there  is  no  signature,  and  no  jurat :  may  be  a 
note  or  abstract  from  an  original  deposition,  or  an  outline  of  evidence 
proposed  to  be  given. 

1  Words  interlined  on  the  MS.  depositions  are  in  these  extracts  put  in  square  brackets. 
M 


178  TIIK   SACK   OF   "THE    LURGAN." 

The  next  deposition  (County  Armagh,  folio  244)  is  by  one  who 
was  in  a  position  to  give  direct  evidence  ;  but  he  has  got  the  knack  of 
vagueness  and  holding  back,  which  at  that  time  appears  to  have  been 
regarded  rather  in  the  light  of  a  qualification  than  otherwise  :] 

"  William  Code,  Whitehouse,  sajth  that  beingin  Lurgan,  in  the  County  of  Ardmagh,  the 
first  week  of  the  Rebellion,  A  party  of  the  Irish  (under  Art  oge  Magennis)  came  and  burned 
the  lowne  of  Lurgan,  and  besiedged  the  Castell,  in  which  this  examinate  was  ;  but  by  an 
agreement  there  was  a  parley,  and  this  examinate  was  sent  out  of  the  Castell  as  a  pledg  to  the 
Irish,  And  was  in  their  camp  a  whole  day,  in  wch  lime  amongst  them  hee  beheld  the  corps 
ofseverall  Inglishmen  murdered.  Amongst  the  rest  was  one  cutt  all  to  pieces.  The  body 
of  Mr.  John  Davis,  one  of  the  cheife  Inhabitants  of  Lurgan  hee  likewise  beheld  lying  naked, 
wch  hee  knew  very  well.  This  exam*  desired  that  the  corps  might  be  hurried,  but  was 
Answered  by  fferdoragh  Magennis,  they  should  not,  but  more  such  sights  would  be  seene  ere 
longe.  And  further  saith  that  Toole  McCann  had  command  as  a  Captain  in  that  party  of  the 
Irish.      And  further  saith  not.      (Deposed  3  May,  1653.)" 

That  this  deponent  does  not  tell  all  that  he  knew  is,  I  think,  clear 
enough.  According  to  his  account,  the  Irish  enter  the  town,  and  at 
once  set  it  on  fire,  the  inhabitants  doing  nothing  (that  we  hear  of)  but 
meekly  waiting  to  be  killed.  And,  accordingly,  some  ten  of  them  are 
despatched,  or  wounded  to  death  :  for  no  other  reason,  as  we  are  left 
to  infer,  than  that  the  rebels  are  thirsty  for  the  blood  of  the  Sassenach  ! 
If  there  was  no  more  opposition  than  we  have  yet  heard  of  from  those 
who  were  sworn  to  tell  the  whole  truth,  what  was  to  prevent  these 
desperate  rebels  from  putting  to  death  all  the  inhabitants — men, 
women,  and  children  ?  In  all  the  histories  of  that  period,  the  charge 
against  the  Irish  insurgents  is  no  less  than  that  of  universal  massacre, 
without  regard  to  age,  or  sex,  or  condition.2  And  even  yet  we  have 
writers  who  connive  at  such  wild  accusations,  if  they  do  not  actually 
adopt  them  in  some  roundabout  and  less  honest  fashion.  However, 
no  one  appears  to  impute  the  murder  of  women  and  children  to  the 
invaders  of  Lurgan — only  men  were  murdered.  How  comes  it  that 
men  were  selected  for  massacre,  and  that  the  men  took  their  fate  so 
martyr-like  ?  A  vital  question  this,  although  ignored  by  Sir  William 
Hrownlow  and  William  Code.  That  the  latter  gives  but  a  garbled 
account  of  what  he  should  have  seen  in  the  rebels'  camp  must  be 
evident  to  everyone.  I  have  grave  distrust  in  the  versions  of  conver- 
sations with  rebels,  as  handed  down  in  these  depositions.  There  is  a 
further  question,  and  not  an  idle  one  : — In  face  of  the  sworn  narratives 
we  have  been  considering,  what  becomes  of  "  the  fortnight's  siege  " 
and  the  "  stout  defence"  of  Carte  and  other  writers.     Carte's  account 

1  The  knack  here  alluded  to  ought,  indeed,  to  l)e  placed  rather  to  the  credit  or  the  scribes  : 
they  brought  to  perfection  the  art  of  manipulating  evidence  to  suit  the  purpose, 

2  /  'ide  Hume. 


THE   SACK   OF   "THE   LURGAN."  179 

must  be  absolutely  without  foundation,  or  the  deponents,  so  far  quoted, 
must  have  been  guilty  of  gross  and  palpable  suppression  of  fact.  To 
many,  the  latter  hypothesis  may  appear  utterly  out  of  the  question,  as 
implying  conspiracy  to  defeat  the  truth.  And  yet  it  will  appear  from 
further  consideration,  that,  as  regards  the  defence,  Carte  comes  nearer 
to  the  actual  state  of  affairs  than  the  magnate  who  was  himself  in  the 
action.  To  withhold  every  circumstance  inconsistent  with  the  assump- 
tion of  "  demons  against  innocents"  was,  if  not  actually  inculcated, 
quite  as  effectively  propagated  by  the  example  of  those  then  at  the 
head  of  affairs  in  Ireland. 

We  have  not,  however,  heard  all  the  deponents.  That  among  the 
insurgents,  individuals  were  guilty  of  crime  and  outrage,  is  only  too 
probable.  The  following  is  directed  mainly  against  one  of  the  actors 
awaiting  trial  in  1653  : 

"The  examinacon  of  Henry  Ogull  (Ogle)  of  Lorgan,  aged  40  years,  or  thereabouts,  taken  at 
Lisnegarvie,  the  2nd  of  May,  1653  : 
"  Whoe  being  examined  sayth  that  he  being  at  Sr  Win.  Brownlow's  house  neere  Lorgan 
the  night  y'  Lorgan  was  burnt,  the  next  morning  he  sawe  Owen  Roe  McKeene,  whoe  stript 
this  exa'te,  his  wife,  father,  mother,  2  brothers,  and  one  sister,  and  Robert  I'ierson  and  his 
wife,  and  others  ;  and  this  exa'te  sayeth  that  the  same  day  he  saw  dead  John  Davis,  Leonard 
Riggs,  Richard  Rudsdell,  Thomas  Hooker,  and  Thomas  Ward  ;  but  by  whom  they  were 
killed  this  exa'te  knowes  not  ;  and  after  the  said  Owen  Roe  McKeene  stript  this  exa'te  and 
the  rest  of  the  above  named  persons,  he  ye  sd  Owen  mist  fire  on  this  exa'te's  brest,  and  after- 
wards would  have  killed  [him]  with  his  skeame,  if  Torlagh  McCan  had  not  saved  him  ;  and 
further  sayth  not. 

"Geo:  Rawdon."  Henry  X  Ogull. 

his  marke. 

Apparently,  the  examination  is  not  sworn.  It  is  endorsed  :  "  The 
exam"  of  Henry  Ogle  versus  Owen  Roe  McKeene.  The  Committee 
to  inquire  of  the  exa'te  and  ye  witnesses,  Whether  he  came  to  Lurgan 
at  ye  first,  or  after  ye  surrender  of  ye  house  of  Lurgan  ?  "  Ogle  gives 
the  names  of five  men  killed.  The  account  of  the  "  stripping  "  may  be 
exaggerated.  Yet  I  have  no  doubt  that  pillage  and  stripping  were 
far  too  commonly  practised,  if  not  by  insurgents  under  command,  at 
any  rate  by  the  "  rascal  element  "  of  the  population,  so  turning  the 
upheaval  to  their  own  account. 

"  The  examinacon  of  James  Bradley  of  Narrow- water,  in  ye  County  Downe,  aged  32  years, 
taken  before  us,  y  21st  day  of  May,  1653  : 
"  Saith  that  he  was  at  Sr  William  Brownlow's  Castle  when  it  was  yielded  up  to  the  Irish 
upon  condicons,  That  soe  manie  as  would  goe  to  Lisnegarvey  should  have  a  safe  convoy  to 
carry  them  alonge,  and  who  would  stay  should  dwell  safely  at  their  own  houses  ;  at  wch  time 
this  exam'  sawe  one  Owen  Roe  McKeene,  with  a  long  fowling-peece  on  his  shoulder,  come 
into  Sr  Wm.  Brownlow's  house,  Whoe  notwithstanding  the  faire  condicons  they  had  made, 
fell  to  strip  and  plunder  the  English,  and  [pusht  and  threw]  them  downe  [to  the  ground]. 
And  about  a  week  after  as  this  exam'  was  credibly  tould  by  Collo  o  Heire  [since  dead]  that 


l8o  THK    SACK    OK   "THE    LURGAN. 

the  said  Owen  Roe  McKeene  raett  with  one  Edward  Robinson,  a  brother-in-law  to  this 
exam',  in  a  townland  called  Tynniry  neere  Lurgan,  and  hanged  him  on  a  tree,  and  after  threw 
his  body  into  a  dich.     And  (further  sayth  not.  [Signs  by  mark.] 

"  Sworne  before  us 

Ja.  Traill,   Roger  Lyndon." 

That  isolated  deeds  of  violence  took    place,  subsequently  to  the 

surrender,  in   the  town  or  vicinity,  may  not   be    denied.     The  next 

document  tells  of  the  attack  on  the  people  who  were  removing  from 

Lurgan  to  Lisnegarvey  (Lisburn),  of  which  Ogle  speaks,  as  already 

cited  : 

"  The  examinacon  of  Robert  Person,  of  Clanbrassell,  in  the  Countie  of  Armagh,  weaver, 
aged  38  years,  or  thereabouts,  taken  at  Carrickfergus  uppon  oath,  the  18th  of  May, 

I653:1 

"  Who  saith  that  he  was  uppon  the  begining  of  the  Rebellion  drawne  into  Sr  William 
Brownlowe's,  his  landlord,  for  safetie.  And  saith  that  he  was,  the  daie  after  the  Renderinge 
of  the  said  house  to  the  enemie,  goeinge  towards  Lisnegarvie  with  his  wife,  and  2  children, 
and  other  poore  English,  and  on  the  waie,  about  a  mile  from  the  Lurgan  beyond  Clancoll 
(Clancan  ?)  Owen  Roe  McKeene,  now  in  prison,  and  about  a  dozen  more  of  the  Irish,  mett 
this  exam1  and  the  said  companie,  and  stript  them,  and  wounded  this  exam'  in  the  head  and 
left  him  for  dead  ;  but  he  did  not  heare  of  anie  other  of  the  said  stript  people  that  was 
wounded  or  kild  att  that  tyme.  And  being  demanded  who  is  yet  liveing  of  ye  said  parties, 
Saith  that  Ilenrye  Ogle  of  the  Lurgan  was  one  of  them,  and  this  examinate's  wife,  and  others 
of  the  English  ;  but  of  the  Irish  partie,  he  knowes  none  liveing  but  the  said  Owen  Roe,  who 
threatened  at  that  tyme  to  shoote  this  exam1,  and  presented  his  peece  against  him,  butt 
did  not  shoote  him,  butt  one  Hugh  McCann,  as  others  related  that  were  present  when  this 
exam'  fell.     And  further  saith  not.  [Signs  by  mark.] 

"  Taken  before  us 

Geo.   Rawdon,  Ja.  Traill." 

"The  examination  of  Alexander  Gill  of  Lurgan,  in  ye  County  of  Ardmagh,  aged  46  years, 
taken  before  us,  the  20th  of  May,  1653  : 
"Who,  being  duly  sworne  and  examined  saith,  that  twice  before  the  burning  of  the 
towne  of  Lurgan  by  the  Irish,  at  or  about  the  first  of  November,  164 1,  one  Neece  McCon- 
well,  an  Inhabitant  distant  from  the  said  towne  about  a  mile  and  a  halfe,  came,  the  first  time, 
three  days  before  the  said  burning,  from  the  Irish  partie  then  at  Clanconnell,  to  Sr  William 
Brownlowe  with  a  message,  saiing  to  Sr  William,  that  the  Irish  were  all  up,  and  that  unless 
the  Towne  and  Castle  were  suddenly  delivered  up  unto  the  said  partie,  the[y]  would  destroy 
the  inhabitants  and  people  of  both,  with  fire  and  sword,  as  they  had  done  at  Dromore,  and 
the  like  they  would  doe  with  Lurgan  Towne  and  Castle.  And  saith  that  the  verie  day  before 
the  burning  of  the  said  Towne  of  Lurgan,  being  on  the  Sabbath  day,  the  said  Neece  McCon- 
well  came  to  Sr  William  again  with  the  like  messadge  and  expressions,  and  saying  further, 
that  hee  did  wonder  at  Sr  William,  and  the  rest  of  the  said  town,  that  they  were  soe  simple 
as  not  to  yield  up  all  unto  the  Irish,  and  wisht  them  (in  a  scornfull  jeering  manner)  all  to  be 
packing  away.  And  being  demanded,  who  he  this  deponent  heard  were  the  cheife  of  the 
said  partie,  hee  saith,  as  the  said  Neece  tould  it  them,  they  were  Art  og  McGlasny  McGennis, 
Edmund  booy  McGlasny  McGennis,  and  sundry  others  whom  this  deponent  doth  not  now 
remember.  And  saith  that  notwithstanding  the  conditions  were  made  by  them  with  Sr  Wil- 
liam Brownlowe,  for  the  rendering  up  of  the  Castle,  that  the  persons  and  goods  of  all  in  it 
should  be  safe,  and  at  liberty  to  goe  away  with  all  that  they  had,  The  said  Maginnises,  with 
Toole  Mc  McCann  (sic)  and  Toole  McRowry  McCan,  entering  the  Castle,  presently  fell  to 
stripping  and  plundering  of  the  people  and  goods  in  it.    And  saith  that  of  the  Rebbells  which 

1  County  Armagh  depositions,  folio  262. 


THE   SACK   OF   "THE    LURGAN."  1 3 1 

plundered  the  townspeople,  and  divideing  the  spoyle  thereof,  were  Glasney  oge  Maginis,  and 
Patteriek  duff  McConwell,  brother  to  the  said  Neece  McConwell,  and  a  great  number  of 
others  of  that  Crewe,  whom  he  this  deponent  now  remembereth  not.     And  more  sayth  not. 

"  Taken  before  us  Alex-  Gili" 

Ja.  Traill,  Roger  Lyndon." 

On  folio  209  of  the  County  Armagh  depositions  is  the  following 
endorsement  :  "  Informacon  about  murders  given  in  by  Alex.  Gill  to 
Dr.  Jones,  rec^  8  Aprill  1653."  Then  in  a  different  ink  :  "  Persons — 
Patrick  O'Dogherty,  Neel  oMullan,  Toole  McMacan,  Owen  Roe 
McKeene  "  ;  and  this  additional  note  :  "  Sir  Wm.  Brownlow  to  be  con- 
ferred with  about  this  when  he  brings  up  the  other  witnesses,  touching 
ye  Murders  about  Lurgan." 

This  note  is  of  much  significance,  as  showing  Sir  William  Brown- 
low's  part  in  the  prosecution  of  parties  alleged  to  have  taken  part  in 
the  sack  of  his  castle  and  town.  Himself  a  witness,  he  had,  it  appears, 
the  charge  of  selecting  and  bringing  up  other  witnesses.  We  need  not 
wonder  that  some  of  them  could  tell  the  story  just  as  he  told  it  him- 
self. The  real  wonder  is  that  so  many  of  them  have  nothing  to  say 
about  murders  :  "  spoyle  "  is  the  only  matter  in  which  they  are  all 
interested. 

Gill  had  sent  in  to  Scoutmaster-General  Henry  Jones  (who  had 
put  aside  the  mitre  of  Clogher  to  take  service  as  chief  detective  under 
the  Cromwellians)  an  outline  of  the  evidence  he  could  give  "  touching 
ye  Murders  about  Lurgan."  The  following  is  the  statement  so 
submitted. 

"  Alexander  Gill  being  in  the  Towne  when  the  Irish  came  to  Burne  it  Saith,  That  Toole 
McMacan  (sic),  Toole  McRowry  McCann,  Brian  Roe  McGlasny  Magenisse,  Glasney  oge 
Magenisse,  Donell  duff  McConwell,  and  Neece  McConwell  of  Clanconnell  [neare  Lurgan] 
came  with  the  rest  of  the  Irish  to  Lurgan  the  first  day  of  November  1641,  or  thereabouts, 
And  with  fire  and  sword  burnt  the  Towne  and  murthered  about  sixteene  persons  of  the  Eng- 
lishes namely  John   Davis,  Tho.  Ward,  James  {torn),   Leonard   Rich,    Richtl.  -,  James 

Tanner,  John  Rogers,  Giles  Calvert,  Mary  Sadler,  widdow,  Jackson,  and  others  :  and 

stript  the  rest,  as  Sir  Wm.  Brownlow,  Mr.  John  ,  Will  Codde,  and  James  Atkinson  who 

lives  now  near  Lurgan,  as  I  suppose,  can  witness,  they  being  present  then.     This  much  I  will 
be  readie  to  depose  when  I  shal  be  called."  [No  signature.] 

In  this  occurs  (so  far  as  I  can  find)  the  only  allegation  of  a  woman 
being  murdered.  It  is  possible  that  an  old  woman  may  have  died  at 
the  time,  and  that  would  be  enough  to  get  her  name  into  such  a  state- 
ment. Curiously  enough,  when  Alexander  Gill  was  put  to  his  oath, 
he  forgot  all  about  the  murders,  while  he  had  much  to  say  about  the 
antics  of  the  lad  Neece  M'Conwell  (or  McConville)  before  Sir  William 
Brownlow. 

Perhaps  the  reason  why  Gill  and  some  others  who  were  in  Lurgan 


l82  THE   SACK   OF  "THE   LURGAN." 

at  the  time  had  nothing  to  say  about  "  murders  "  may  be  found  in  the 

following  : 

"  The  Examinacon  of  William  McGinn,  of  Lurgan,  taken  May  2nd,  1653  : 

"  Who  being  duly  examined  and  sworne  sayth  that  about  the  second  of  November  when 
the  Lurgan  Castle  was  delivered  unto  Edmund  boy  McGlasny  McGennis,  Art  Oge  McGlasny 
McGennis,  Toole  McCann,  Toole  McRory  McCann,  with  neere  1000  men  in  company,  upon 
quarter,  wch  ([iiarter  was  not  in  any  way  observed. 

"And  this  exam'  further  sayth  that  upon  a  skirmish  thatt  passed  between  the  foresayd 
party  and  the  Inhabitants  of  that/  toivne  [before  the  quarter  given  to  the  sayd  Castle]  he  saw 
dead  uppon  the  place  John  Davys,  Leonard  Kiggs,  Richard  Richell,  Doate  (?)  Thomas  the 
shoemaker,  and  Thomas  Warde  ;  wch  were  killed  by  the  party  under  the  coniande  of  the  said 
men.  Wiu.  X  McGinn. 

his  maik. 

il/iir:  Geo.  Ravvdon." 

There  we  have  it — what  was,  all  along,  starting  out  between  the 
lines  in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  smother  it  up.  John  Davies  and  his 
friends  did  not  die  so  ingloriously.  They  were  killed  in  an  honour- 
able, if  unsuccessful,  attempt  to  repel  the  invader,  although  Sir  William 
Brovvnlow,  and  those  who  took  their  cue  from  "  his  honour,"  would 
refuse  them  so  much  credit.  The  number  of  townsmen  killed  on  the 
occasion — it  is  clear  from  all  attempts  to  give  names — did  not  exceed 
six,  but  others  may  have  died  later  on  of  wounds  then  received.  We 
hear  of  no  casualties  on  the  side  of  the  rebels — if  their  dead  are  not 
included  in  the  "  several  "  mentioned,  but  not  named,  in  the  various 
depositions.  The  two  who  were  examined,  belonging  to  that  party, 
had  a  very  good  reason  for  saying  nothing  about  this  skirmish  :  it 
behoved  them  to  allege  that  they  "  were  not  there  at  all."  The  depon- 
ent William  McGinn  may  not  be  suspected  of  any  partiality  towards 
the  insurgents.  lie  accuses  them — somewhat  extravagantly,  indeed — 
of  violating  all  the  terms  of  capitulation.  But  all  the  more  important 
is  his  testimony  as  to  the  real  nature  of  the  much-paraded  "  murders." 
It  is  but  fair  to  hear  what  the  two  persons  awaiting  trial  on  the 
charge  of  murder  have  to  say.  Such  statements,  taken  from  prisoners, 
are  obviously  not  to  be  relied  on  in  all  particulars.  The  examinants 
have  to  make  the  best  of  what  may  be  a  bad  matter,  and  they  have  to 
keep  in  view  that  anything  they  say  may  be  used  to  their  prejudice 
when  on  trial.  In  the  numerous  depositions  cited,  we  find  but  one 
rebel  singled  out  and  accused  of  having  part  in  the  actual  commission 
of  outrage.  His  own  account  ought  to  be  compared  with  those  of  his 
accusers : 

"The  Examination  of  Owen  Roe  McKeene,  taken  before  us,  George  Talbot  and   Roger 
Lyndon,  Esquires,  at  Carrickfergus,  ye  5th  of  May,  1653  (endorsed  — "  Prisoner  ")  : 
"  Whoe  saith  that  soone  after  ye  Rebellion  broke  out  and  within  two  days  after  Tanderagee 
was  surprised,  the  cheife  of  ye  Hanlons  whose  names  he  remembereth  not,  with  a  greate 


THE   SACK   OF   "THE    LURGAN."  183 

number  of  ye  Irish  of  those  pts,  and  in  and  about  Clanbrazell,  gathered  together  w,h  all  such 
armes  they  could  in  so  short  a  tyme  find  out  in  the  country,  and  incampt  themselves  within 
less  than  a  mile  to  Lurgan,  and  the  next  day  tooke  Sr  William  Brumlowe's  house  or  castle 
(there  being  then  there  with  them  Toole  McRory  McCan)  upon  promise  of  quarter,  and  to 
goe  away  without  preiudice.  Yet  the  said  Toole  sent  Sr  William  to  Armagh  prissoner,  and 
from  thence  by  further  orders  he  was  sent  to  Dungannon  prissoner.  And  saith  that  same 
evening  after  they  had  burnt  the  Lurgan,  The  said  partie  dispersed  themselves  by  direction 
of  the  said  Toole  into  all  the  next  adiacant  quarters  thereabouts  to  plunder  and  bring  to  the 
camp  or  Randivoues  all  the  Englishmen's  cattle  and  goodes,  and  that,  through  the  disorder 
of  those  soe  employed,  they  brought  in  this  exam's  cowes,  Whereupon  the  next  morning  he 
repayred  to  the  Lurgan  to  seek  after  his  cattle,  but  could  not  obtain  of  them  more  than  one 
cow  and  a  garron.  And  saith  that  hee  saw  at  his  coming  to  town,  onely  two  men  lying  dead 
stript,  the  one  of  them  was  John  Davis,  the  other  he  knew  not,  nor  who  killed  them.  Hee 
saith  he  had  delivered  him  presently  after  his  comeing  a  muskett,  wch  hee  saith  was  taken 
from  him  [again]  presently,  after  they  had  taken  the  said  Castle  from  Sir  Wm.  Brumlowe, 
Who  thereupon  returned  home.  Hee  saith  hee  knew  Henry  oGull,  and  his  father  and  his 
brothers,  but  saw  none  of  them  then  at  Lurgan  ;  but  saith  that  2  or  3  dayes  after  the  towne 
was  burnt,  he  saw  the  said  Henry  oGull,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Lurgan,  and  in  his 
company  his  ffather  and  two  brothers,  and  Robert  Peirson  who  was  cutt  in  the  head  or  shoulder 
with  a  sword  by  one  Hugh  og  M'Can,  one  of  the  company,  and  further  saith  not. 
"  Taken  by  us 

Roger  Lyndon,   Geo.   Talbott." 

Not,  by  any  means,  a  satisfactory  explanation.  lie  gives  but  a 
halting  account  of  the  musket — why  it  was  given  him — why  taken 
from  him — and  what  he  did  with  it  in  the  meantime.  His  chronology 
is  mixed  ;  but  in  that  matter  he  is  no  worse  than  the  witnesses  against 
him — they  are  all  confused  in  respect  of  time  and  the  sequence  of 
events.  Nor  is  this  peculiar  to  the  witnesses  in  the  Lurgan  case. 
Confusion  in  respect  of  dates,  places,  and  persons  is  so  general  through- 
out the  depositions,  that  one  cannot  help  thinking  it  was  intentional 
on  the  part  of  the  examiners  to  baffle  prying  people  who  might  be 
disposed  to  question  or  analyze.  O'Keene's  admissions  are  significant 
enough,  especially  his  meeting  the  Ogles  and  others  on  their  way  to 
Lisnegarvy.  How  did  that  meeting  come  about  ?  The  examinant 
was  evidently  bent  on  pillage,  and  the  refugee  got  wounded  in  resisting 
the  marauder. 

On  folio  208,  County  Armagh  depositions,  is  a  note  of  intended 
evidence  to  this  effect : 

"  The  Information  of  Henry  Ogle  and  Jane  his  wife  : 

"Who  saith  that  the  2nd  of  November  or  thereabouts,  being  the  day  after  Sr  Wm. 
Brownlow's  house,  neere  Lurgan,  was  yeilded  to  the  Irish  upon  condicons  that  the  English 
should  goe  to  Lisnegarvy,  and  have  a  safe  convoy  not  to  be  molested  in  the  way,  one  Owen 
Roe  McKeene  fell  upon  them  and  presented  his  tirelocke  to  have  shott  them,  but  mist  fire, 
and  after  strove  to  kill  them  with  his  sword,  but  that  one  Turley  McPhelemie  prevented  him, 
and  further  saith  y'  ,  the  day  before,  was  at  the  burning  of  Lurgan  and  murthering  the  people 
there.     This  much,  they  say,  they  will  be  ready  to  depose." 

We  know  now  how  the  "  murthering  "  occurred  ;  and  there  could 


184  THE   SACK    OF   "THE    LURGAN." 

be  hardly  a  doubt  about  it,  had  William  M'Ginn's  evidence  not  been 
forthcoming.  It  were  to  be  wished  that  the  question  of  pillage  could 
be  as  easily  disposed  of  as  the  question  of  murder  ;  but  it  cannot. 

"  The  examinacon  of  Neece  M  'Conwell1  of  Killultagh,  in  y'  County  of  Antrim,  aged 26  yeares, 
or  thereabouts,  examined  before  us  y''  9th  clay  of  [line,  1653  : 

"  Who  confesseth  and  sayth  that  at  or  about  All  Saints  next  alter  the  Rebellion,  in  Anno 
1641,  hee,  this  examinat,2  was  sent  by  Art  og  MacGenis  (when  hee  approached  within  a  myle 
of  Lurgan  wth  a  p'^  of  two  hundred  men  and  upwards,  of  wch  nomber,  as  considerable  men,  were 
Hugh  6  Lawry,3  Hugh  Roe  Magennis,  Hugh  McArt  Oge,  ffardorgh  McArt  Oge,  ffardorgh 
McManus  Magennis,  and  others  whom  this  exam'  doth  not  well  remember)  to  Sir  William 
Brownlowe,  and  to  make  known  unto  him  that  hee  the  said  Art  og  M'Ginis  had  a  partyof  Armed 
men  to  take  his  castle  and  towne  of  Lurgan,  if  hee  would  not  deliver  them  upp  without  com- 
pulsion, Wdl  messadge  this  exam1  caryed  to  Sr  William,  Whereunto  Sr  William  Brownlowe 
made  Answere,  that  the  said  Art  og  Maginis  and  all  his  p'v  should  be  hanged  lyke  Rougues  and 
theeves  [as  they  were]  before  that  hee  would  deliver  either  town  or  castle  unto  them,  Upon  wcl> 
answere  this  exam1  left  Sir  William's  Castle,  from  whence  next  day  he  went  to  his  ffather's 
house  about  a  mile  from  Lorgan,  where  the  sayd  Art  sent  [one  to]  him  to  know  what  answere 
Sir  William  gave  [him]  (his,  the  sayd  Art's  p1''  of  men,  that  while,  dispersed,  not  far  from 
about  the  sayd  towne)  wch  answere  this  exam1  related  to  the  sayd  Arts  servant,  wch,  he 
believes,  was  accordingly  tould  to  the  sayd  Art,  for  y1  aboute  3  dayes  after  the  sayd  dispersed 
p'y  were  gathered  together,  whereof  this  exam1  brought  notice  to  the  townspeople  of 
ye  Lurgan  y1  ye  sayd  p>'te  were  coming  to  burne  y1  towne,  and  y1  they  should  look  to  them- 
selves, but  denyes  y1  he  caryed  any  second  messadge  to  Sr  William  fro  ye  said  Art  or  fro 
any  of  ye  sayd  ptye,  or  that  hee  was  at  the  towne  when  it  was  burnt,  or  was  in  ye  company  of 
those  who  entered  into  the  Castle  upo  agreement  with  Sr  William  for  ye  surrender  thereof,  nor 
doth  he  know  of  any  murder  comitted  at  the  burning  of  the  Towne  or  when  the  casile 
was  given  upp  upon  quarter,  nor  since;  saying  that  presently  after  hee  gave  notice  to 
yc  Inhabitants  of  ye  towne  what  was  intended  by  ye  said  Art  and  p'>',  hee  went  to  his  ffather's 
house  and  there  stayd  till  after  ye  towne  [was  burnt]  and  Castle  given  up  unto  ye  sayd 
[Art  and  his]  company.  And  being  demanded  how  it  happened  that  the  sayd  Art  made 
choice  of  him  to  carry  his  Messadge  to  Sr  William  Brownloe,  Hee  saith  the  s'1  Art  Maginis 
sent  to  this  examts  ffather  to  come  to  him  to  the  lorgan  ;  this  examts  ffather,  not  willing  to 
goe  himselfe,  sent  this  examt.  to  him,  who  being  come  to  him,  the  sayd  Art  wisht  [or 
commanded]  the  exam1  to  goe  with  the  sayd  Messadge,  and  that  he  should  not  trust  nor 
wish  good  to  ye  English.  Unto  wch  the  exam1  replyed,  I  know  nothing  yett  why  I  should 
doe  soe.     And  further  saith  not.  Neec  McConuaile. 

"Taken  by  us 

Roger  Lyndon,  John  Reding." 

It  were  easy  enough  to  pick  holes  in  the  foregoing  explanation. 
There  is  a  rather  obvious  one — How  did  he  spend  that  night  after 
leaving  Brownlovv  Castle?  He  says  he  did  not  return  to  the  insurgent 
quarters,  but  went  to  his  father's  house  next  day.  He  may  be  right 
in  saying  he  was  at  his  father's  house  while  all  the  stirring  events  were 
proceeding :  at  any  rate,  it  was  the  place  where  a  lad  of  his  years 
ought  to  be  at  such  a  time  ;  and  Sir  William's  evidence  against  him 
is  far-fetched.  Indeed,  the  only  bit  of  rascality  that  can  fairly  be  laid 
to  young  Neece's  charge  is  his  delivery  of  the  message  to  Sir  William. 

1  Armagh  depositions,  folio  256. 

2  "  Deponent"  first  written,  then  erased. 

3  0'La\xry. 


THE   SACK    OF   "THE    LURGAN."  185 

Why  he  was  chosen  for  that  purpose  does  seem  very  strange,  indeed  ; 
and  it  is  evident  that  it  so  seemed  to  the  magistrates. 

The  question  of  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  examinants  O'Keene 
and  Neece  McConville  is  now  of  consequence  only  as  it  is  connected 
with  the  insurgent  attack  on  the  town  and  castle  of  Lurgan.  Un- 
fortunately for  the  matter  of  more  interest  to  the  inquirer — the  real 
history  of  the  sack  of  the  Lurgan — the  evidence  was  got  up  for  the 
purpose  of  convicting  those  then  in  prison.  That  the  said  evidence 
does  not  disclose — or  discloses  but  imperfectly  and  confusedly — what 
really  took  place,  must,  I  think,  be  evident  to  anyone  who  takes  the 
trouble  to  consider  the  matter. 

To  me  the  statements  made  by  Sir  William  Brownlow  are  the  least 
satisfactory  of  all.  Can  he  have  been  the  poltroon  of  his  own  showing  ? 
What  was  he  doing  while  the  Irish  were  raiding  his  town,  and — if 
we  believe  him — murdering  his  people?  If  we  take  our  information 
from  himself  and  some  of  his  dependents,  he  was  doing  nothing — 
neither  could  do,  nor  tried  to  do,  anything  in  self-defence  ;  and,  on  the 
same  authority,  the  townsmen  just  waited  to  be  slaughtered — like  sheep. 
The  valiant  knight,  in  his  infuriate  zeal  against  the  Irish,  has 
unwittingly  made  himself  look  rather  ridiculous — has,  in  fact,  wronged 
himself  and  wronged  his  people,  both  in  his  unsworn  and  sworn 
statements.  If  no  more  resistance  was  made  to  the  Irish  than  he 
would  have  us  believe,  it  were  easy  for  the  invaders  to  tie  up  all 
the  inhabitants  of  Lurgan  in  sacks  and  carry  them  down  to  Lough 
Neagh.  But  the  real  case  was  far  otherwise,  had  Sir  William  been 
pleased  to  state  it  fully.  There  was  a  skirmish,  in  which  a  few  Lurgan 
men  were  killed  and  wounded.  Sir  William  and  his  party — or, 
perhaps,  Sir  William's  men-at-arms — then  took  to  the  castle  ;  and  the 
castle  was  immediately  besieged.  That  houses  were  burnt  is  admitted 
on  all  hands  ;  but  this  sort  of  warfare  was  carried  on,  not  by  the  Irish 
alone,  but  by  the  British  forces  ail  through  the  civil  war — -by  these 
latter  more  especially.  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  no  slaughter  of  the 
unresisting  was  attempted  after  the  skirmish,  when  the  Irish  had 
become  masters  of  the  town;  and,  in  this  respect  at  least,  their 
conduct  contrasts  creditably  with  that  of  the  forces  soon  after  sent 
against  them.  That  pillage  was  indulged  in  to  a  considerable  extent 
is  past  all  denying,  although  the  accounts  of  the  sufferers  would,  in 
many  cases,  be  much  exaggerated. 

That  the  terms  of  surrender  were  not  well  observed  may  be  true  ; 
but    that    they  were   in   no   particular  observed    is  manifestly  wrong. 


186  THE   SACK   OF  "THE   LURGAN." 

Sir  William  and  his  family  were  the  only  inmates  who  were  detained. 
The  usual  statement,  that  the  Irish  on  entering  the  castle  killed  several 
people — or  any  people— will  not  bear  examination  ;  although,  in  his 
unsworn  statement,  Sir  William  says  that  "  they,  contrary  to  the 
condicions,  plundered  the  house,  stripped  the  people,  and,  in  a  cruel 
manner,  murthered  severall  of  them "  ;  those  then  murdered  having, 
of  course,  no  name.  Now,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that,  in  this 
passage,  the  valiant  knight  deliberately  mixes  up  occurrences  of 
different  times  and  different  places — the  artifice  is  frequent  enough 
in  these  depositions.  That  some  of  his  servants  or  retainers  got 
killed  in  opposing  the  first  raid  is  not  unlikely  ;  but  not  one  of  the 
deponents — and  some  of  them  were  in  the  castle  at  the  time  the 
rebels  entered  it — attempts  to  prove  to  any  murder  following  the 
surrender.  Casualties  must  also  have  been  on  the  side  of  the  invaders, 
or  the  besieged  made  but  a  poor  use  of  their  supplies.  Sir  William's 
allegation  that  they  were  without  arms  or  ammunition  is  extremely 
improbable.  It  was  alleged  (and  not  by  the  Irish)  that,  immediately 
before  the  outbreak,  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill  had,  through  Sir  William 
Brownlow's  recommendation,  procured  a  barrel  of  gunpowder  from 
Dublin  Castle.  It  is  at  least  as  likely  that  he  also  procured  a  supply 
for  himself.  At  any  rate,  he  had  a  supply  from  another  quarter,  as 
Carte  points  out. 

"On  Sunday,  October  31,  all  these  forces  (British)  retired  to  their  several  garrisons, 
leaving  Lisnegarvey  so  ill- provided  that  few  thought  it  would  be  able  to  hold  out  a  siege. 
But  the  next  day,  a  messenger  arriving  from  Dublin  with  a  commission  from  the  Lords 
Justices  and  Council  to  Colonel  Chichester  and  Sir  Arthur  Tirringham  to  command  in  chief 
within  the  County  of  Antrim,  and  to  order  and  dispose  of  places  according  to  their  discretion, 
they  began  to  proceed  with  more  order  after  they  were  fortified  with  this  authority.  They 
immediately  made  Lt. -Colonel  Mathews  Governor  of  Belfast  with  a  garrison  of  500  men. 
They  put  Lord  Conway's  troop  and  a  party  of  200  foot  into  Lisnegarvy  ;  they  supplied  Sir 
William  Bromley  zvith  poivder  for  the  defence  of  his  Castle  of  Loargan,  and  took  the  best 
methods  in  their  power  for  the  defence  of  the  country  :  in  which  they  were  much  encouraged 
by  the  return  of  the  express  sent  to  the  King,  who  brought  letters  from  his  Majesty  full  of 
affectionate  concern,  and  strong  assurances  of  taking  the  speediest  course  for  their  relief." — 
Carte's  Ormond,  i,  187. 

Even  without  this,  one  could  feel  that  Sir  William  Brownlow  did 
not  stand  idle  and  isolated  at  a  time  when  neighbouring  territorialists 
had  got  on  their  war-paint.  Borlase  says  that  commissions  were  issued 
by  the  Lords  Justices  and  Council,  so  early  as  the  27th  of  October, 
1 64 1,  to  the  Montgomerys,  Stewarts,  and  other  gentlemen  of  Ulster, 
authorizing  and  commanding  them  to  pursue  with  fire  and  sword  the 
Irish,  then  abettors,  etc.  Carte's  account  of  the  military  dispositions 
against  the  Irish  may  be  relied  on.     He  is  probably  right  in  saying 


THE   FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1759-1763.  1 87 

that  the  castle  of  Lurgan  stood  a  fortnight's  siege.  The  first  of 
November  is  pointed  to  in  the  depositions  as  the  time  the  siege  may- 
have  begun.  I  do  not  know  how  our  author  is  able  to  fix  the 
15th  as  the  date  of  surrender,  but  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  he  is 
altogether  wrong — even  on  the  showing  of  the  most  hostile  deponents 
— in  saying  that  the  Irish  stripped  and  "killed  most  of  his  (Sir  William's) 
servants,  and  treated  most  of  the  townsmen  in  the  same  manner "  ; 
and  that  he  has,  like  Sir  William  himself,  exaggerated  and  mixed  up 
matters  out  of  all  relation  to  the  facts. 

That  some  of  the  Irish  were  guilty  of  grave  misconduct  on  that 
occasion  need  not  be  contested  ;  but  that  they  committed  cold-blooded 
murder,  as  was  done  by  the  Scotch  in  Island  Magee,  is,  on  the  showing  of 
their  accusers,  utterly  without  foundation.  There  is  not  good  evidence 
in  all  that  has  been  sworn  that  even  one  deliberate  murder  was 
committed  in  connection  with  the  Sack  of"  the  Lurgan."  What,  then, 
becomes  of  the  veracity  of  the  valiant  knight  and  his  dependents  ? 
They  simply  followed  the  canon  in  practice  all  through  adopted  by 
the  Commissioners  for  taking  the  depositions :  that  all  who  were 
killed  in  opposing  the  Irish  should  be  returned  as  "cruelly  murthered 
and  massacred."  Such,  I  say,  was  the  practice  observed  in  taking  the 
examinations  ;  and  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  have  in  writing 
not  what  the  deponents  may  have  said,  but  what  the  Commissioners 
considered  relevant  to  the  end  they  had  in  view.  And,  in  this  case, 
the  relevant  matter  was  what  would  sustain  a  charge  of  murder  against 
certain  prisoners.  The  depositions  represent  things  at  the  worst ;  and, 
even  at  the  worst,  the  Sack  of  "  the  Lurgan  "  has  no  feature  in  common 
with  the  Island  Ma^ee  massacre. 


The   French  Prisoners   in   Belfast, 
17594763, 

(  Continued  from  page  141. ) 

The  following  extracts  are  taken    from  Tyerman's  Life  of  fohn 
Wesley,  vol.  ii,  page  351  : 

On  the  5th  May  he  (Wesley)  came  to  Carrickfergus.      Some  months  before,  John  Smith, 
one  of  Wesley's  itinerants,  was  preaching  in  an  inland  town  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  when 


1 88 


THE    FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1759-I/63. 


(  37  ) 
;iinl  broken  windows,  which  makes  it  unfit 
for  any  fick  perfon  ;  but  much  more  fo  for  a 
gentleman.  Whereupon  this  deponent  pro- 
cured him  a  Phylician  to  attend  him  gratis, 
and  paid  feventeen  (hillings  and  ten-pence  to 
an  apothecary  for  his  medicines  ;  otherways, 
this  deponent  does  believe,  the  faid  French 
officer  would  have  periflied  under  his  difeafe, 
without  fuch  relief.  And  this  deponent  faith, 
that  a  fubfeription  has  likewife  been  raifed  to 

fupport  the  faid    M ,  and  M — ,   another 

French  officer,  who  is  out  of  order,  and  has 
likewife  been  refufed  medicines,  and  mr. 
Stanton's  advice  ;  and  that  this  deponent, 
and  feveral  others,  have  been,  and  are  put  to 
confiderable  expence  thereby  :  but  that  not- 
withstanding this  deponent  is  firmly  perfuad- 
ed,  did  mr.  Stanton  do  the  Prifoners  juftice, 
by  a  faithful  and  religious  application  of  the 
money  he  is  allowed  for  their  support,  the 
Inhabitants  of  Belfajt  would  chearfully  make 
up  any  deficiency  afterwards,  by  a  munifi- 
cent fubfeription  for  the  purpofe.  This  de- 
ponent farther  depofeth,  that  mr.  Gilbert  Orr 
merchant  in  Belfajt  aforefaid,  informed  this 
deponent  and  feveral  others,  that  mr.  Stan- 
ton received  twenty  guineas  from  the  owners 
of  the  (hips  that  carried  the  Prifoners,  taken 
on  board  mon.  Thurofs  fquadron,  to  France  ; 
and  that  his  fon,  who  was  one  half  concern- 
ed in  the  Profits  made  from  victualling  thofe 

Pri- 


(  38  ) 
Prifoners,  would  fue  mr.  Stanton  for  his  (hare 
of  the  fame.  And  this  deponent  faith,  that 
this  laft  mentioned  truth  the  feveral  affidavits 
at  John  Campbel,  Archibald  Henning,  James 
Ballentine,  lieut.  Stuart,  and  fergeant-major 
Keith  alone  determin'd  this  deponent  to  be 
of  opinion,  that  mr.  Stanton  is  void  of  hu- 
manity and  honefty,  and  therefore  unfit  for 
any  place  of  publick  truft. 


Wm.  Haven. 


Sworn  before  me  at  Relfaft, 
in  the  County  of  Antrim, 
this  "]th  Day  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1 76 1. 

James  Hamilton, 
Sovereign. 


he  made  a  sudden  pause,  and  then  exclaimed,  "  Ah,  the  French  have  just  landed  at  Carrick- 
fergus."  The  Mayor  heard  this,  and  sending  for  the  preacher,  reprimanded  him  for  exciting 
needless  alarm,  and  disturbing  the  public  tranquility.  Strangely  enough,  however,  Smith's 
utterance  was  correct,  and  in  a  few  hours  an  express  arrived  with  the  intelligence  that  Thurot 
had  landed  a  thousand  soldiers,  commanded  by  General  Cavignac,  and  that  they  had  taken 
possession  of  the  town.  Thurot  had  been  tossed  about  by  storms  till  he  and  all  his  men  were 
almost  famished,  having  only  an  ounce  of  bread  per  man  daily.  Their  object  in  landing  was 
chiefly  to  obtain  provisions,  but  fighting  followed,  the  garrison  was  conquered,  and  articles 
of  capitulation  were  signed.  Five  days  afterwards  Thurot  set  sail  again,  and  was  met  by 
three  English  frigates.  A  battle  ensued  (28  February),  and  three  hundred  of  the  enemy  were 
killed  and  wounded,  Thurot  himself  being  shot  through  the  heart. 

General  Cavignac  was  at  Carrickfergus  at  the  time  of  Wesley's 
visit,  and  was  resident  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Cobham,  who  also  invited 
Wesley  to  be  his  guest.  The  following  letter  to  Mr.  Blackwell  refers 
to  these  events  : 


Carrickfergus,  7  May,  1760. 
Dear  Sir, 

I  can  now  give  you  a  clear  and  full  account  of  the  late  proceedings  of  the  French  here, 

as  I  now  lodge  at  Mr.  Cobham's,  under  the  same  roof  with  Mons.  Cavignac,  the  French 

lieutenant-general.     When  the  people  here  saw  three  large  ships  anchored  near  the  town, 

they  took  it  for  granted  they  were  English  ;  but  in  an  hour  the  French  began  landing  their 


THE    FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1 759- 1 763. 


189 


(  39  ) 

To  the  Commissioners,  and  Overseers 
of  his  Majefty's  Barracks  in  Ireland. 

[NUM.  VI.] 

The  humble  Petition  of  John  Campbell 
of  Belfast,  in  the  County  of  Antrim, 
Pavior. 

SHEWETII, 

"PHAT  on  or  about  the  thirteenth  day 
of  October  one  thoufand  feven  hun- 
dred and  fixty,  Your  Petitioner  contracted 
with  Samuel  Stanton  of Be Ij 'aft  aforefaid,  Gent, 
for  the  paving  of  the  Barrack-yard  of  Belfaft 
aforefaid,  for  fix-pence  per  the  fquare  yard, 
finding  all  materials. 

That  your  Petitioner,  in  confequence  of 
faid  contract,  employed  labourers  and  work- 
men, and  laid  in  materials  for  the  carrying 
on  of  the  faid  work  ;  but  your  Petitioner  be- 
ing in  very  low  and  neceffitous  circumftances, 
and  preffed  for  money  by  the  perfons  whom 
he  had  employed,  was  obliged  to  apply  to 
Mr.  Stanton  for  the  fum  of  twelve  pounds, 
eighteen  fhillings  and  four-pence  half-penny  ; 
which  was  the  amount  of  the  work  then 
done  by  your  Petitioner  ;  which  the  faid 
Stanton  abfolutely  refufed  to  pay  ;  telling  your 

Petitioner, 


(  40  ) 
Petitioner,  that  he  had  not  any  money  be- 
longing to  his  Majefty  in  his  hands  ;  but  if 
your  Petitioner  would  perfect  a  receipt  for 
fixteen  pounds,  fixteen  fhillings  and  feven- 
pence  half-penny,  he  would  advance,  and 
pay  the  faid  twelve  pounds,  eighteen  fhillings 
and  four-pence  half-penny  out  of  his  own 
money,  which  your  Petitioner,  for  fear  of 
going  to  gaol,  was  obliged  to  do,  thereby 
allowing  the  faid  Stanton  a  premium  of  three 
guineas. 

That  the  Sovereign,  Burgesses,  and  prin- 
cipal Inhabitants  of  Belfaft,  at  the  inftance 
of  lieut.  col.  Higgi>ifon,  made  a  particular 
enquiry  into  the  aforefaid  impofition,  and 
feveral  other  frauds  committed  by  the  faid 
Stanton,  as  agent  and  victualler  to  the  French 
Prifoners,  and  the  faid  Stanton  being  con- 
victed of  the  aforefaid  impofition,  in  the  pre- 
fence  of  the  Sovereign  of  Belfaft,  lieut.  col. 
Higginfon,  and  your  Petitioner,  tore  the  faid 
receipt  ;  swearing  at  the  same  time,  it  fliould 
never  again  appear  in  judgment  against  him. 

That  there  is  now  due  and  owing  to  your 
Petitioner,  for  more  paving  work  done  to 
the  faid  yard,  the  fum  of  feven  pounds  and 
upwards  (without  including  the  three  guineas 
fo  extorted  from  your  Petitioner)  which  faid 
Stanton  abfolutely  refufes  to  pay  ;  and  far- 
ther threatens  to  difcharge  your  Petitioner 
from    the  work,   unlefs  your    Petitioner    will 

perfect 


men.  The  first  party  came  to  the  north  gate.  Twelve  soldiers  planted  on  the  wall  fired  on 
them  as  they  advanced,  wounded  the  general  and  killed  several.  But  when  they  had  fired 
four  rounds,  having  no  more  ammunition,  they  were  obliged  to  retire.  The  French  then 
entered  the  town,  keeping  a  steady  fire  up  the  street  till  they  came  near  the  castle.  The 
English  then  fired  hotly  from  the  gates  and  walls,  and  killed  their  second  general,  who  had 
burst  open  the  gate,  and  gone  in  sword  in  hand  with  upwards  of  fourscore  men.  Having 
no  more  cartridges,  the  English  soldiers  thought  it  best  to  capitulate.  They  agreed  to  furnish 
in  six  hours  a  certain  quantity  of  provisions  on  condition  that  the  French  should  not  plunder  ; 
but  they  began  immediately  to  serve  themselves  with  meat  and  drink,  and  took  all  they 
could  find,  chiefly  from  the  houses  where  the  inhabitants  had  run  away.  However,  they 
neither  hurt  nor  affronted  man,  woman,  or  child,  nor  did  any  mischief  for  mischief's  sake. 
though  many  of  the  inhabitants  affronted  them,  cursed  them  to  their  face,  and  even  took 
up  pokers  and  other  things  to  strike  them. 

I  have  had  much  conversation  with  Mons.  Cavignac,  and  have  found  him  not  only  a  very 
sensible  man,  but  thoroughly  instructed  even  in  heart  religion.  After  one  general  was  killed 
and  the  other  wounded,  the  command  devolved  on  him.  I  asked  him  if  it  was  true  that  they 
had  a  design  to  burn  Carrick  and  Belfast.  He  cried  out,  "  Jesu,  Maria  !  we  never  had  such 
a  thought.  To  burn,  to  destroy,  cannot  enter  into  the  head  or  heart  of  a  good  man."  One 
would  think  the  French  king  sent  these  men  on  purpose  to  show  what  officers  he  has  in  his 
army.      I  hope  there  are  some  such  in  the  English  army,  but  I  never  found  them  yet. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  affectionate  servant, 

John  Wesley. 


190  THE   FRENCH    PRISONERS   IN    BELFAST,    1759-1763. 


(  4'  ) 
perfect  a  receipt  to  him  for  twelve  pounds 
eighteen  (hillings  and  four-pence  half-penny, 
being  the  real  lum  which  your  Petitioner  re- 
ceived from  faid  Stanton,  bearing  equal  date 
with  the  other  receipt  for  fixteen  pounds,  fix 
ihillings  and  feven-pence  half-penny  fo  de- 
flroyed  as  aforesaid,  in  order  thereby  to  cover 
the  laid  fraud,  by  producing  and  (hewing  the 
fame  to  your  Honours,  and  denying  that  the 
receipt  for  £16  16  ~]\  was  ever  given  by 
your  Petitioner  to  the  faid  Stanton. 

TllKRKKORK,  your  Petitioner  being  a  poor 
man,  and  by  faid  refufal,  put  to  great  extre- 
mity, and  unable  to  carry  forward  the  work, 
humbly  begs  leave  to  lay  his  case  before  your 
Honours  for  redrefs:  and  to  corroborate  which, 
he  fends  his,  and  another  affidavit,  which 
your  Petitioner  doubts  not  will  fully  con- 
vince your  Honours  of  the  truth  of  his 
cafe,  and  Mr.  Stanton's  unfitnefs  for  any  em- 
ployment under  your  Honours.  And 
therefore  your  Petitioner  prays,  that  your 
Honours  will  take  his  cafe  into  confideration, 
and  appoint  the  Barrack-mafter,  or  fome  o- 
ther  perfon  to  pay  the  money  as  it  flia.ll  be- 
come due  to  your  Petitioner,  and  alfo  what 
is  now  due  to  him,  otherwife  he  will  be  un- 
able to  perform  his  contract  with  the  faid 
Stanton,  in  regard  your  Petitioner  is  convin- 
ced that  the  faid  Stanton  will  diflrefs  your 
Petitioner  as  much  as  he  poffibly  can  ;  and 
F                       otherwife 


(  42  ) 
otherwise  to  act  and  do  in  the   premifes   as 
to  your  Honours  fliall  feem  meet. 

John  Campbkll. 


County  of  Antrim,  )  T^IIE     above    named 
to  wit.  )  John  Cami'Bf.i.l 

came  this  day  before  me, 
and  made  Oath,  that  the  contents  of  the 
foregoing  Petition,  and  all  the  matters  and 
facts  therein  contained  are  true. 


John  Cami'Hei.i.. 


Szvorn  before  me  this 
26th  Day  of  Jan. 
1761. 

James  Hamilton, 
Sovereign. 


Wesley  further  tells  us  that  his  host,  Mr.  Cobham,  was  sent  to 
Belfast  to  obtain  the  provisions  for  the  French  that  had  been  promised, 
and  had  to  leave  his  wife  with  General  Cavignac  as  a  hostage  for  his 
return.  During  his  absence,  Thurot  himself  entered  Mr.  Cobham's 
house,  and  stated  that  he  had  neither  ate  nor  slept  for  eight  and  forty 
hours.  The  commodore  was  hospitably  entertained,  and  after  six 
hours  of  rest  he  politely  thanked  his  Irish  hostess  and  went  aboard 
his  ship. 

The  following  note  is  supplied  by  Dr.  John  S.  Crone  : 

1760.  February  22,  Belfast. —  Major  General  Strode  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford. 
At  about  7  o'clock  last  night,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Jennings  of  the  62nd  regiment  and 
four  companies  were  made  prisoners  of  war  at  Carrick  Fergus.  About  8  o'clock  this  morning 
a  Flag  of  Truce  came  to  this  town,  and  demanded  the  undermentioned  articles,  consisting 
of  various  provisions  and  supplies,  to  be  delivered  to-day  at  2  o'clock,  promising  to  pay  for 
them,  and  threatening  in  case  of  refusal  to  burn  Carrick  Fergus,  and  then  this  town  also,  with 
which  demand  the  gentlemen  of  Belfast  thought  it  best  to  comply.  About  500  or  600  of  the 
Country  Militia  came  here  to-day,  but  they  are  very  ill  provided  with  arms,  and  have  great 
scarcity  of  ammunition.  The  French  lost  about  four  or  five  at  Carrick  Fergus,  and  our 
people  about  three  or  four. — (Copy)  MSS.  of  the  Earl  of  Donnoghmore.  Historical  MSS. 
Com  mis.,  1891. 


THE   FRENCH    PRISONERS  IN    BELFAST,    I759~I763- 


191 


(  43  ) 

The  Affidavit  of  Archibald  Henning. 

[N  U  M.  VII.] 

ARCHIBALD  HENNING  of  Bel/aft 
in  the  county  of  Antrim  Pipe-borer, 
came  this  day  before  me,  and  made  Oath,  that 
fome  fliort  time  ago,  this  deponent  was  ap- 
plied to  by  George  Steed,  who  is  a  fervant 
and  manager  for  Samuel  Stanton  of  Belfaft 
aforefaid  gent,  and  defired  that  this  deponent 
might  come  and  agree  with  the  faid  Stanton 
for  repairing  the  well,  and  linking  a  pump 
at  the  barracks  of  Belfaft  (which  deponent 
believes  the  faid  Stanton  had  directions  to 
do  from  the  Commiffioners  and  Overfeers  of 
the  barracks)  and  faith  that  the  faid  Steed  at 
the  fame  time  informed  this  deponent,  that 
one  Thomas  Blakely,  a  Pipe-borer  in  Belfaft, 
had  propofed  to  do  the  fame  for  ten  guineas, 
and  to  give  the  faid  Stanton  a  guinea  for  the 
jobb,  as  a  perquifite  to  himfelf :  and  this  de- 
ponent faith,  that  foon  afterwards,  at  the  in- 
flance  and  direction  of  the  faid  Stanton,  this 
deponent  gave  in  a  proposal  to  the  faid  Stan- 
ton, by  which  he  agreed  to  repair  the  faid 
well,  and  to  fink  a  pump,  and  to  build  a  wall 
round  the  fame  for  the  fum  of  nine  guineas  ; 
but  the  faid  Stanton  giving  this  deponent  to 
underfland,  by  feveral  hints,  that  there  was 
F  2  a 


(  44  ) 

a  fee,  or  perquifite  due  to  him  upon  fuch  oc- 
cafions,  this  deponent  did  thereupon  propofe 
to  give  the  faid  Stanton's  wife  a  guinea  out 
of  the  faid  nine  guineas  ;  which  the  faid  Stan- 
ton defired  the  faid  Steed,  who  was  prefent, 
to  take  notice  of,  and  to  prepare  an  article 
agreeable  thereto.  But  this  deponent  faith, 
that  before  the  faid  article  was  drawn,  the 
faid  Stanton  informed  this  deponent,  that  he 
had  altered  his  defign,  and  would  sink  a  new 
well,  but  could  not  proceed  therein  until  he 
had  advice  from  Dublin  :  but  this  deponent 
faith,  that  in  a  day  or  two  after  he  found  out, 
to  his  great  furprize,  that  the  faid  Stanton 
had  employed  the  faid  Blakely  ;  he,  the  faid 
Blakely,  having  agreed,  as  this  deponent  be- 
lieves, to  give  the  faid  Stanton,  or  his  wife, 
a  greater  fee  than  the  guinea  which  this  de- 
ponent had  offered  to  the  faid  Stanton's  wife 
for  the  jobb,  as  aforefaid,  otherwife  this  de- 
ponent does  believe  he  would  have  been  em- 
ployed, as  he  was  willing  to  contract  for  the 
work  upon  lower  terms  than  faid  Blakely  had 
propofed,  as  aforefaid. 


Arch.  Henning. 


Sworn  before  me  at  Bel- 
fast aforefaid,  the 
26th  Jan.    1 76 1. 

James  Hamilton, 
Sovereign. 


(  45  ) 

7 'he  Affidavit  of  James  Ballentine, 
Bla'ckfmith. 

[NU  M.   VIII.] 


County  of  Antrim,  \  ^AmesBa, 
to  wit.  )J     faff  in 


alien/ ine  o(Bel- 
the  County  of 
Antrim,  Blackfmith, 
came  this  day  before  me,  and  made  oath, 
that  fome  time  about  the  firft  day  of  No- 
vember laft,  this  deponent  was  employed  by 
Samuel  Stanton  gent,  of  Belfaft  aforefaid,  to 
make  Hooks  and  Hinges  for  the  Barrack 
Gates  in  the  faid  town  of  Belfaft ;  and  foon 
afterwards  he  delivered  (when  the  work  was 
done)  his  Account  for  the  fame  to  mr.  Stan- 
ton, amounting  to  forty-eight  (hillings,  or 
thereabouts  ;  and  fhortly  afterwards  a  private 
Account  for  work  done  for  faid  Stanton  in  his 
houfe,  amounting  to  eight  (hillings  and  fix- 
pence,  or  thereabouts  ;  which  faid  laft  men- 
tioned account  the  faid  Stanton  abfolutely  re- 
fufes  to  pay  ;  alledging  the  fame  to  be  due 
as  a  gratuity  to  himfelf,  for  employing  this 
deponent  to  the  work  done  at  the  Parrack  a- 
forefaid  ;  and  telling  this  deponent,  when  he 
at  different  times  applied  for  payment  of  faid 
private  account,  that  the  amount  thereof  was 
but  a  fmall  gratuity  to  himfelf;  for  that  one 
/!/'  JVarry  a  mafon,   who  was  employed  by 

him, 


(  46  ) 

him,  the  faid  Stanton,  to  do  fome  mafon 
work  at  the  Barrack  aforefaid,  had  done  him, 

the  faid  Stanton,  a  jobb  of  equal  value. 

This  deponent  further  depofeth,  that  he 
charged  faid  Stanton  no  more  for  the  laid 
before  mentioned  work,  than  the  ufual  and 
accuftomed  prices  he  charges  every  other 
perfon  who  employs  him  :  And  that  there- 
fore he  cannot  poffibly  make  the  abatement 
demanded  by  faid  Stanton,  as  a  gratuity  to 
himfelf.  Wherefore  hopes,  as  he  is  but  a 
poor  man,  every  honeft  man  will  affift  him 
in  the  recovery  of  the  money  fo  juftly  due 
to,  and  fo  wrongfully  detained  from  this  de- 
ponent, as  aforefaid. 


Ja.  Ballentine. 


Sworn  before  me  this 
26th  Day  of  Janua- 
ry, 1 76 1,  at  Belfaft, 
in  the  County  of 
Antrim. 

James  Hamilton, 
Sovereign. 


Miscellanea 


[THE  Editor  will  be  obliged  for  any  drawings,  or  photos,  or  notes,  of  old  Belfast  signs.] 

Watch-house  in  Shankill  Graveyard. 

Thk  following  note  has  been  culled  by  Isaac  W.  Ward  :  " Belfast  News- Letter,  January  2, 
1835. — We  observe  that  a  convenient  little  Watch-house  has  been  erected  in  this  burying- 
ground  by  Mr.  Wm.  Sayers  and  Israel  Milliken,  for  the  use  of  which  they  get  a  donation 
from  one  of  the  most  useful  charities,  and  from  the  known  kindness  of  these  gentlemen,  we 
are  sure  they  will  give  this  accommodation  on  the  same  terms  to  any  respectable  person  who 
may  apply  for  it." 

Belfast  Tokens. 

In  the  course  of  a  flying  visit  to  Belfast  last  month,  I  noticed  that  the  Free  library  had  a 
copy  of  the  work  (published  early  this  year)  The  Nineteenth  Century  Token  Coinage,  by 
W.  J.  Davis,  which  for  the  first  time  fully  describes  the  interesting  series  of  tokens  issued  in 
Ulster  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  has  struck  me  that  there  may  be 
many  persons  throughout  Ulster  who  may  have  specimens  of  these  tokens,  and  who  would 
be  glad  to  know  where  to  look  for  information  as  to  their  rarity,  etc.  Many  others,  too,  who 
are  interested  in  local  history,  or  in  the  families  issuing  the  tokens,  might  be  glad  to  see  a  list 
of  them.  The  difficulty  is  that  so  very  few  people,  other  than  collectors  of  tokens,  are  likely 
to  hear  of  the  work  in  question  ;  and  even  if  they  heard  of  it,  they  would  hardly  expect  to 
find  in  a  work  bearing  the  name  of  The  Nineteenth  Century  Token  Coinage  an  account 
of  the  tokens  issued  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  I  would,  therefore,  venture 
to  suggest  that  it  might  be  of  service  to  some  of  the  readers  of  the  Ulster  Journal  to  know- 
that  the  work  in  question  contains  a  description  of  the  Ulster  tokens  issued  during  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  ;  as,  in  the  case  of  an  expensive  work  like  this,  no  copies 
were  sent  out  for  review,  very  few  people,  other  than  those  immediately  interested,  would  be 
likely  to  hear  of  it.  Lionel  L.   Fletcher. 


Notes  and  Queries, 

This  column  is  open  to  readers  desirous  of  obtaining  or  imparting  information 

on  questions  of  interest  and  obscure  points  of  historical  lore 

relating  to  the  district. 


< 


=5)   <T 


Hugh  Ross.— I  should  be  greatly  obliged  if  any  correspondent  could  furnish  any 
particulars  regarding  Hugh  Ross,  a  Presbyterian,  who  emigrated  to  America  in  the  early  part 
of  1725.  He  was  born  about  1 700,  or  earlier,  and  married  two  years  after  his  landing  in 
America.  He  appears  to  have  worked  his  passage  out.  Any  information  regarding  his 
family  and  friends  in  Ireland  will  greatly  oblige.  JOHN  VlNYCOMB. 


INDEX 


TO 


Ulster  Journal  of  Archeology. 

Vol.  x. 


PAGE. 

ANTRIM  crannogs  ...         ...  26,  49 

Antrim — poem,  by  John  Stevenson   ...     33 
Armada,  Spanish  ...         ...         ...  ...       4 


...  61 

...  101 

90 

"9 

21,  69,   138,  187 

...  192 

-35.9*. 


BALLYCASTLE,  Chichester  and 
Ballydrain,  reference  to 
Ballylone  fort,  the  legend  of 
Ballymena,  souterrain  near 
Belfast,  French  prisoners  in 
Belfast  token     ... 

Belmore,  Lord,  paper  by         ...  ...  35,  92,  131 

Behnore,  Lord,  note  by          ...  ...          •••95 

Bibliography  of  Ulster              ...  ...          ...    151 

Bibliography  of  Derry .. .          ...  ...          ...    151 

Bigger,  Francis  Joseph,  paper  by 

1,  56,  66,  104,  158 

Bigger,  Francis  Joseph,  note  by  142,  143,  144 

Bronze  serpentine  latchets       ...  ...          ...      12 

Bronze  dress  fasteners   . .          ...  ...          ...      12 

Brownlows  of  Lurgan  ...          ...  ...                170 

Buick,  George  Raphael,  obituary  ...         ...   118 

Butler,  William  Archer,  poem  by  ...          ...    130 

CAR  DWELL,  John,  paper  by    ...  90 

Carrickfergus  captured  by  French 
21 
Chair,  Irish  Speaker's  ... 
Chichester,  Sir  Arthur,  paper  on     1 
Church  Island,  Lough  Gill 
Clannaboy,  territories  in 
Clannaboy,  pedigree  of  the  house  of 
Cloghernie,  parish  of  ... 
Clotworthy,  Sir  Hugh...  ...  ...  ...       8 

Collis,  Rev.  M.  H.  F.,  note  by         ...        96,  130 
Conway,  Sir  Foulke     ...         ...         ...         ...       8 

Consumption,  cure  for  ...         ...         ...     41 

Cousins,  James  H.,  paper  by...         ...         ...   100 

Crannogs  in  Antrim  and  Derry  ...  26,  49 

Crone,  John  S.,  note  by  ...  21,  151,  190 


69, 138, 

187 

97 

56,  104, 

158 

166 

63 

29 

35-  92, 

131 

DALWAY,  Sir  John 
Derry  crannogs 
Derry  bibliography 
Dialect  of  Ulster 
Dixon,  D.D. ,  Robert  Vickers... 
Dobbin,  Anna,  of  Carrickfergus 
Down  volunteers 
Down,  wars  of  1641  in  County 
Down,  families  in  (1641) 
Dress  fasteners  (bronze) 
Dunluce,  Spaniards  at... 

EMMET,  Robert,  poem  on 
Erne,  Lough,  Inismacsaint  in 
Essex,  Earl  of,  reference  to     ... 


PAGE. 

...       8 

26,  49 

...    151 

66,  121 

35.92,  131 

10 

...   143 

•••     73 

•••     75 

...     12 

•••      5 

...  130 

...  113 
...  105 


FENNELL,  W.  J.,  paper  by         ...       157,  166 
Fitzpatrick,  li..  d.,  Thomas,  paper  by    73,  170 
Fletcher,  Lionel  L. ,  note  by  ...  ...  ...    192 

Flood,  W.  II.  Grattan,  note  by         ...  ...     41 

French  prisoners  in  Belfast     ...     21,  69,  138,  187 
French  fleet  at  Carrickfergus  ...     21,  69,  138,  187 


G 


ARSTIN,  J.  K.,  note  by 
Gill,  Lough,  Church  Island 


41,  142 
...    166 


HAMILTON'S  and  the  Plantation  12,  106 

Hamilton,  James,  Sovereign  of  Belfast 

21,  69,  138,  187 

Hill,  Sir  Moses  8 

Hill,  Peter,  High  Sheriff        73 

House  of  Commons,  Irish,  chair  and  mace  of    97 


T  NISMACSAINT,  history  of 
*■      Inismore,  or  Church  Island 
Irish  House  of  Commons 
Islandmagee,  refugees  at 
Islandmagee,  massacre  at 


113 

166 

97 

6 

65,  "l>  171 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Islandmagee,  old  document  in            ...  ...    104 

Islandmagee,  grant  of...         ...           ..  ...    105 

Islands,  artificial,  or  crannogs  of  Antrim  and 

Derry          26,  49 


K 


NOWLES,  \V.  J.,  papers  by     ...  26,  49,  118 


LANGFORD,  Sir  Roger    ... 
Latchets,  bronze  serpentine 
Legend  of  fort,  Ballylone 
Legend  of  St.  Mochaoi 
Legend  of  Church  Island 
Lord  Deputy,  paper  on 
Lurgan,  sack  of  the 


1,  56,  104, 


12 

90 

100 

169 

158 
170 


MACE,  Irish  House  of  Commons 
Magazine  lyric 
Maguire,  clan    ... 
Mahee,  Inis,  legend  of 
Marshall,  John  J.,  paper  by    ... 
Miscellanea : 

Irish  journey  of  Papal  nuncio 

Cure  for  consumption 

MacGrath  of  Termon  MacGrath    ... 

Roughan  Castle,  County  Tyrone   ... 

Lyric  magazine 

O'Neill  burial-place... 

Savages  of  the  Ardes 

Down  volunteers 

Richard  Parker  of  the  Nore  mutiny 

Watch-house  in  Shankill  graveyard 

Belfast  token... 
Montgomerys  and  the  Plantation 
MacAllister,  Bishop,  grave  of 
MacGraths  of  Termon  MacGrath 
MacKenna,  Rev.  J.  E.,  paper  by 
MacQuillin,  references  to 

NENDRUM,  legend  of 
Notes  and  queries : 
Cairdie-Sinclair 
Shane's  castle 
Hugh  Ross    ... 
Nore  mutiny 
Norton,  Sir  Robert 
Nugent,  Edward  H.  Savage,  note  by 

O'CAHAN,  Sir  Donnell  Ballagh 
O'Dougherty,  Sir  Cahir 

O'Hanlon,  Sir  Oghy 

O'Laverty,  Monsignor,  notes  by 


...  97 

...  143 

...  163 

...  too 

[21,   145 

41,    I42 
41 

95 
143 
143 
H3 
143 
144 
192 
192 

10 
157 

41 
"3 
107 


96 

96 

192 

144 


143 

159 
161 
162 


O'Neill  of  Clannaboy,  pedigree  of 
O'Neill  burial-place 

O'Neill,  Sir  Phelim      

O'Reilly,  Miles 


PAGE. 
...       29 

•••    143 
...    I45 

...    163 


41,  I42 
...  I44 
...    I44 

...     86 


PAPAL  nuncio,  Irish  journey  of 
Papers,  future,  for  Journal 
Parker,  Richard,  of  the  Nore  mutiny 
Parkinson,  Edward,  note  by  ... 

Plantation  of  Ulster     1,  56,  104,  158 

Porter,  Hugh,  poetical  attempts  by  ...  ...  67 

Purdon,  Dr.  H.  S.,  note  by 41 

REEVES,  Bishop,  paper  by         26 

Refugees  at  Islandmagee         ...  ...  6 

Reviews  of  books : 

Music  of  Ireland       ...         ...          ...  ...  42 

Journal  of  Friends'  Historical  Society  ...  42 

Irish  Music    ...         ...         ...         ...  •••  43 

Poems  by  Ellen  Patterson  ...          ...  43 

English-Irish  Dictionary     ...          ...  ...  43 

Lay  of  Ossian  and  Patrick  .. .          ...  ...  44 

The  Pikemen            ...          ...          ...  ...  44 

Volunteers  in  the  Irish  Parliament  ...  44 

History  of  Two  Ulster  Manors      ...  ..  45 

The  Passionate  Hearts         ...          ...  ...  45 

History  of  the  Family  of  Bailie      ...  ...  45 

The  O'Dempseys      ...          ...          ...  ...  45 

A  Lad  of  the  O'Friels          45 

Social  History  of  Ancient  Ireland...  ...  46 

History  of  Drumholm          ...          ...  ...  46 

Pat  McCarty  :   his  rhymes    ..          ...  ...  46 

Lady  Anne's  Walk 47 

Old-time  Music         ...          ...         ...  ...  47 

How  to   Decipher  and  Study  Old   Docu- 
ments    ...         ...         ...         ...  ...  48 

The  Bloody  Bridge  ...          ...          ...  •■■  48 

Ireland  under  English  Rule            ...  ...  48 

Maria  Edge  worth  at  Rostrevor      ...  ...  48 

Upton's  Wolves        ...         ...         ...  •••  4& 

Roughan  castle,  County  Tyrone         ...  •••  95 

SACK  of  the  Lurgan           170 

Savages  of  the  Ardes      ...         ...  ...  143 

Serpentine  latchets  (bronze)    ...         ...  ...  12 

Shankill  graveyard,  watch-house  at   ...  ...  192 

Skillen,  Joseph,  paper  by        ...          ...  ...  1 19 

Souterrain  near  Ballymena      ...          ...  ...  1 19 

Sovereign  of  Belfast  (James  Hamilton) 

21,  69,  138,  187 

Stafford,  Sir  Francis    ...         ...         ...  ...  8 

Stevenson,  John,  poem  by      ...         ...  ...  33 


INDEX. 


St.  Mochaoi 
St.  Ninnidh 


PAGE. 

...     IOO 

-  "3 


TEMPLEPATRICK,  minister  of, 
Josiah  Welsh  ...     32 
Token,  Belfast   ..  ...  ...         ...         ...   192 


u 


LSTER  dialect    ... 
Ulster  bibliography 


66,  121 
...   151 


VINYCOMB,  John,  paper  by 
Vinycomb,  John,  note  by 
Volunteers,  Down 

WARD,  Isaac  W.,  note  by 
Wars  of  1641 ... 
Watch-house,  Shankill  graveyard 
Welsh,  Josiah,  of  Templepatrick 
Wesley,  John,  letter  by 
Wood-Martin,  Col.,  paper  by 


PAGE. 
...  97 
...  192 
...   143 

192 

73 
192 

32 

188 

12 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

Sir  Arthur  Chichester  ...         ...         ...frontispiece 

Joymount,  Carrickfergus          ...          ...          ...        1 

Wreck  of  a  Galleon  at  Port-na-Spaniagh      ...        5 

Chichester  leaving  the  North  Gate  of  Carrick- 

fergus 

...       9 

Cloak  Pin 

...     12 

Curved  Bronze  Pins     ... 

...     13 

Crooked  Bronze  Pins  ... 

...     14 

Bronze  Pin 

...     15 

Bronze  Dress  Fastener 

...     16 

Figure  with  Bronze  Fastener 

...     17 

Bronze  Rings    ... 

...     18 

Bronze  Rings    ... 

...     20 

Iron  Axe 

...     52 

Bronze  Pins 

•••     53 

Samian  Ware  and  Earthen  Bowl 

...     54 

Sword  from  Crannog   ... 

...     55 

Roughan  Castle,  County  Tyrone 

Irish  Speaker's  Chair  ... 

Sir  John  Foster 

Irish  House  of  Commons 

Speaker's  Mace 

Royal  Arms  on  Speaker's  Mace 

Inismacsaint  Cross 

Plan  of  Souterrain  near  Ballymena 

Sir  Phelim  O'Neill       

Bishop  MacAllister's  Grave    ... 

Ground  Plans  of  Church  at  Inismore,  Lough 

Gill 

Doorways  of  Church  at  Inismore,  Lough  Gill 
Corbel    on    Gable    of    Church    at    Inismore, 

Lough  Gill 
Bronze  Pot  from  Lurgan  Castle 


PAGE. 

95 

97 
97 


99 
100 
116 
120 
145 
157 

167 

168 

169 
170 


GETTY  CENTER  LIBRARY 


IN    Ml     III   llll 


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